Where The Lines Overlap
by felix-felicis33
Summary: Kurt and Blaine accidently bump into each other on an early morning train in New York City and the attraction between them only intensifies when they start seeing each other almost every day.
1. Chapter 1

The weather was beginning to turn to winter and the cold air had a bite to it at this hour, causing Kurt to shiver and shove his hands deeper into the pockets of his coat. His breath hung in a cloud in front of his face until a gust of bitter wind blew it away as he paused outside his apartment building to adjust his scarf before setting off down the street, walking quickly to try and warm himself up. Thankfully it wasn't a long walk to the subway station and Kurt was soon allowing the crowds of New Yorkers to sweep him down the stairs into the station. He checked the time on his cell phone as he swiped his travel card, slowing his marching pace when he realised he still had plenty of time until his train was due. Descending the stairs onto the platform, Kurt automatically scanned the crowds of people waiting on the platform – sometimes one of his friends from college took the same train as him – recognising no one.

He found a free spot on the platform to stand that was well away from the stairs and the platform edge, knowing from experience that unless he wanted to be run over in the rush of people hurrying to catch their train, it was best to keep away from those areas. Pulling out his iPod he inserted his ear buds and picked a song, cranking up the volume so he could hear it over the sudden surge of noise on the platform as a train arrived. He watched people spill out of the train and head for the stairs like cattle being herded, the people rushing to catch the train fighting their way down the stairs, struggling against the flow heading up out of the station. Shivering, Kurt glanced up at the electronic board to check the time his train was due, sighing when he saw he still had to wait another five minutes.

The time flew surprisingly fast when Kurt got lost in his music, and soon his train was slowing by the platform and he joined the crowds moving towards it. He quickly found a spot to stand on the train and shifted aside slightly to let the last rush of people boarding the train to pass him.

"Sorry." A voice said as someone jostled him slightly when they struggled to stand beside Kurt in the wave of people cramming on the train.

Kurt turned to glance at the source of the voice, planning on shooting them a quick smile in response to their apology, but ending up gazing at them for several seconds longer than he intended as he met the bright hazel eyes of the person standing next to him.

He was stunningly attractive with dark, curly hair, tanned skin, long eyelashes, and a wide, infectious smile. He looked to be a few years younger than Kurt, but he suspected the slicked back hair, bowtie and sweater combination, and short stature made him look younger than he was.

"It's fine," he squeaked, inwardly wincing at how high his voice sounded.

Bowtie guy smiled at him before turning his attention to the paperback he was holding as the train pulled away from the station.

Kurt stared down at his feet, thinking about how ridiculous it was for him to get flustered just because a good-looking guy smiled at him – he hadn't even acted like this in high school when he'd had a crush on someone, so why did he have to start now? He shook his head at his own thoughts, he shouldn't be feeling embarrassed over a quick exchange with a stranger he would never see again. The train stopped at a station and Kurt took the opportunity to glance at the bowtie guy again. He hadn't looked up from his book and there was a tiny line between his eyebrows as he read. Before his glance became staring, Kurt looked away, cursing at himself when his eyes drifted back to look at him.

His phone buzzed in his pocket and he pulled it out in relief, glad to have something to look at other than an attractive stranger. He had never been more glad to receive a text from Rachel in his life, she rarely just sent him one or two texts, instead she had conversations with him that lasted until one of them had to stop for some reason.

Texting Rachel kept him occupied until the train slowed as it neared his station. Typing a quick goodbye to Rachel, he adjusted his bag into a more comfortable position on his shoulder and watched Bowtie out the corner of his eye as the train slowed to a stop at the station. He didn't look up from his book as the train stopped and people began swarming out the doors, and Kurt, shuffling along behind the crowd stepping out onto the platform, didn't know if he was relieved or disappointed that he wasn't getting off at the same station as him.

It was only as he stepped onto the street and started walking towards his college that he realised his music was still playing. He yanked his ear buds out and switched his iPod off, he wanted to walk in silence, or as close to silent as you could get on a busy New York street. He ran through the lines for the monologue he had to perform in one of his acting classes in his head as he weaved through the crowded sidewalk, trying to keep his mind from wondering if he would see Bowtie again – if he would be on the same train tomorrow. He was glad his first lecture was on something that interested him so that his mind wouldn't wander back to hazel eyes and a bright smile.

* * *

"Hey, Kurt!" Rachel said brightly, dropping into the chair opposite him and setting her coffee down on the table. "How has your morning been?"

"Pretty great actually," Kurt smiled at his best friend.

Rachel swallowed a mouthful of coffee. "You're very cheerful considering how much you were stressing about that monologue – I'm guessing it went well?"

Kurt, whose mind had been back on the early morning train, blinked at her. "What? Oh, yes it did go well." Kurt told her, realising as he said it that it was true.

Rachel frowned across the table at him, setting her coffee down. "What else happened this morning?"

Kurt cursed how Rachel knew him so well that she was able to notice that there was something else on his mind. "Nothing," he said, feigning innocence, "I just really enjoyed my classes this morning." He took a nonchalant drink of his coffee.

"I see," Rachel didn't look convinced, and Kurt knew she would try and pry it out of him later. "Well, my morning has been pretty good as well. Remember how I asked if it would be possible for me to perform-"

As Rachel launched into a tirade about songs and musicals she wanted to perform and who knew what else, Kurt allowed himself to daydream about curly hair, hazel eyes, and a gorgeous smile.

* * *

**A/N: **Inspiration for this came from taking the train to university everyday, unfortunately there are no Kurt's or Blaine's on my train :(

Obviously as Kurt and Blaine have never met before and they are now both in college/university (I'm still confused about the difference in the US), Kurt never went to Dalton during season 2 and as a result Blaine stayed at Dalton for the rest of his high school year after his transfer, sad stuff.

I have never been on the subway system in New York city and everything about the subway system in this story is based on my own experiences on the underground systems in London and Paris, the trains I take to university, and some information from my friend Google. If anything is completely wrong then feel free to point that out to me.

Oh and a little word of warning I guess, as Kurt and Blaine are older, at university/college/whatever, and have never met before there are some OC's in this story and with OC's comes some storylines that I didn't really enjoy writing as much as I enjoy writing some other storylines. Vague comment is vague. It's not anything to do with abuse or that sort of thing in case anyone was thinking that, so don't worry, but yeah...

Not sure I will be able to update this as often as I updated 'Cursed' as the end of my second semester at university is drawing closer which means exams and not much time for writing, but I have a good few chapters already written so hopefully I'll be able to post a new chapter at least once a week. I'll start with updating twice a week for now, but that may decrease to once a week if writing slows down.

Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

A harsh bleeping interrupted Blaine's dreams and he rolled over in bed, groaning. Reaching a hand out he scrabbled over his nightstand until he found his alarm, blindly pressing the button to turn it off. By the time his room was silent again all remnants of sleep had left him and he was too awake to drop off to sleep again. Glaring at his alarm he sat up in bed, running a hand through his hair as he pushed his bedding back and got out his bed.

Last semester he had never had any early morning classes and had been able to call his friends late morning and smugly inform that he had just woken up whilst they groaned and complained about how early morning lectures shouldn't be allowed and how unfair it was that Blaine didn't have to suffer through them. Blaine should have known his luck would run out, and sure enough when he got his timetable for this semester he found that he had a lecture first thing every day except Friday. His friend and roommate Nick had made a point of making the same phone calls that Blaine had tormented him with the previous semester, Blaine supposed he deserved it. But it was only the second week of semester and he was sick of the early mornings already.

He ran a hand through his hair again whilst he brushed his teeth, trying to tame the mess of dark curls. Sighing, he rinsed his toothbrush and grabbed his hair gel. Nick teased him for how much gel he used and asked him at least twice a month why he didn't cut back on the amount he used now that they were no longer at Dalton and didn't have to look like dapper, young gentlemen every day, but Blaine just felt scruffy if he didn't gel his hair.

Dressed and ready to leave, he debated about waking Nick up just to annoy him, but after realising Nick would get him back in some way, he chose not to and left the apartment silently. It was cold outside, but thankfully warmer than the bitter chill that New York had woken to yesterday. He didn't have to rush for his train today – yesterday he had been running late after having to sift through the stacks of papers and books on the coffee table to find his assignment that was due that day – and he descended the stairs to the platform several minutes before his train was due. He was walking along the platform when, out the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a familiar pair of blue eyes. It was the guy he had bumped against yesterday, the one who had left him breathless when their eyes had met for those brief few seconds on the train. He was currently absorbed in playing with an iPod, allowing Blaine to study him from a short distance away. His hair was perfectly coiffed, his pale skin was flawless, and he was dressed impeccably in a fashionable coat, scarf, and a pair of skinny jeans that clung to his legs in all the right ways. Blaine found himself wondering what his name was and what his story was. He didn't know why he was spending so much time thinking about a stranger, usually when he saw an attractive guy he would check them out and then forget all about them less than a minute later. He didn't know why this guy was different.

His train pulled into the station and Blaine deliberately hung back so that the blue-eyed young man approached the train in front of him. Blaine's eyes swept down and he bit his lip, his thoughts jumbling and becoming incoherent as he took in the denim-clad ass in front of him. Blue Eyes found a spot half-way down the train car and Blaine reluctantly allowed a group of business men in suits who were discussing the morning's paper get between him and the blue-eyed guy so that his view of him was blocked – he needed to stop staring at the attractive stranger.

Needing to distract himself, Blaine pulled out his iPod and listened to the latest piece of music he had composed on the piano but hadn't written lyrics to yet. He had started writing and then later scrapped several versus and choruses for the music – nothing he had come up with so far fitted the music. Blaine was a bit of a perfectionist and whilst this had helped him get a scholarship to study music at NYU, it meant that he spent longer working on things than other people did, especially his music. Sometimes, Blaine was able to write music and accompanying lyrics he was happy with in a few hours when ideas just flowed out of him, other times he would spend days working on a song. Something was different this time, something he couldn't quite put his finger on. It was like he had channelled some undiscovered part of himself, and until he understood this part of himself, until it was brought to the conscious part of his brain, he knew he wouldn't be able to write lyrics he was happy with and which truly suited the music.

The train stopped at the station Blue Eyes had got off at yesterday and Blaine watched him walk past on his way off the train. He didn't look up from his phone as he passed and Blaine wondered why he was so disappointed by this, they had only bumped into each other on the train and on New York's busy subway system that happened a lot – the other guy probably wouldn't even remember the exchange.

* * *

Blaine doodled absently in the margins of his notebook as the lecturer droned on about something Blaine already knew and wasn't gripping enough for him to listen to. Next to him his friend Scott stared at the lecturer with glazed eyes, his chin resting on his hand and his pen resting against a page which had only a few lines of writing on it. Scott wasn't good at staying focused during lectures that weren't interesting and always ended up begging Blaine to let him borrow his notes when exam time came around. Blaine had tried to get Scott to pay more attention in class by threatening to hide his notes from him, but it never worked as Scott knew Blaine would give in and let him borrow them anyway – Blaine was just too nice to everyone, years of being bullied and struggling to fit in had made him like that, he just wanted to get along with everyone.

The lecturer dismissed them and Blaine had to nudge Scott twice before he realised class was over.

Noticing Blaine looking pointedly at the almost blank notebook in front of him, Scott raised his hands in defence. "Hey, I tried to pay attention, I really did, but we can't all have your powers of concentration." He shoved his books into his bag and followed Blaine out of the lecture theatre. "You can't exactly tell me off; I noticed you weren't taking your usual notes." He smirked at Blaine. "Mind on other things? Last night, maybe?"

Blaine rolled his eyes as they headed to their next class.

"I'll take that as a yes." Scott's smirk widened and remained on his face as he pulled out his phone, fingers almost a blur as he tapped out a text.

Blaine pulled open the door to the building their next class was in, stepping aside to allow a still texting Scott to enter ahead of him.

"So what happened last night?" Scott asked without looking up from his phone as they walked towards the stairs at the back of the building. "I want _all_ the details!"

Blaine shook his head as they started to climb the stairs. "I swear you act gayer than I do."

Scott stuck his tongue out at him and slid his phone back into his pocket. "Fine, be like that, don't tell me anything."

Blaine was glad when they reached the lecture theatre and Scott was distracted from trying to wheedle information out of Blaine by the appearance of a couple of their friends.

* * *

"Rachel! Dinner's ready!"

Kurt finished serving food up onto the two plates on the counter of the tiny kitchen and carried them to the small table which served as both a dining table and a desk where Kurt and Rachel did all their coursework. Rachel appeared just as he set the plates down, sheet music in her hands and an excited smile on her face.

"Kurt, I _officially_ have this song perfected," she announced, setting the sheet music down on the table, "and I know you've been _dying_ to hear it, so-"

Kurt interrupted before she could start singing. "Dinner will get cold if you don't have it now. Why don't you save the performance until after we have eaten?"

Rachel looked a little disappointed at his lack of enthusiasm, but she sat down at the table willingly enough. "Ok," she said, picking up her fork and knife. "How were you classes today?"

Although he and Rachel were both studying musical theatre at NYADA, they had a couple of different classes which meant their timetables were slightly different. Kurt had been unlucky enough to get early morning lectures which Rachel had managed to avoid this semester.

He shrugged. "They were alright, still not happy about the early mornings, but I guess I'll get used to it."

Rachel nodded sympathetically. "I hated having them last semester; I had to get up ridiculously early to fit in my usual morning routine."

They chatted about classes as they ate, Rachel thankfully not having anything to complain about today, until there was a lull in the conversation just as they were finishing their meal.

Rachel, who had been taking a drink, set her glass down suddenly. "I had been meaning to ask you last night, but what happened that put you in such a good mood yesterday morning? Was it Tim? Did he call you?"

Kurt shook his head, feeling a blush colour his cheeks. "No, no it wasn't Tim."

Rachel eyed him sceptically for a moment. "How are things going with him anyway? I know you were texting him last night?"

Kurt shrugged. "We're just friends, Rachel."

Rachel shook her head and smirked at him. "_We're_ friends, but you don't do what you did with him at that party at the end of last semester with me." She set her cutlery down. "Besides, I know he really likes you, Kurt and you like him too."

Kurt grabbed Rachel's sheet music from where it lay at the end of the table. "Are you going to show me your song? I've wanted to hear you sing this for_ ages_!"

* * *

**A/N: **The latest episode of Glee had me cursing RIB so much and also crying a lot - Darren and Chris did a great job. And Chandler can just piss off as far as I'm concerned.

Thanks for reading and reviewing and to the people who put this on their favourites or alerts!

Next chapter will be posted on Saturday.


	3. Chapter 3

"Hey, Kurt! Ready for a caffeine fix?"

Kurt smiled at his friend Tim who stood waiting for him outside the lecture theatre when his class was let out. Kurt didn't know how he managed to get from his last class to here before Kurt got out the lecture, but somehow he always did whenever they agreed to meet up after class for coffee.

"Sure am!" Kurt replied cheerfully as they fell into step beside each other. "How did your rehearsal go?"

Tim ran a hand through his dark hair, shrugging. "Ok, I think. I messed up at one point, but we still have several weeks until we have to perform."

Tim was in his third year at NYADA and had to put on performances almost every week, so spent a lot of time rehearsing songs and the parts he was acting. Kurt and Tim had met last year after one of the performances Kurt and Rachel had both been in. Tim had come up to praise Kurt's performance and the pair had become friends not long afterwards.

Kurt tugged at his scarf as a gust of wind blew up suddenly. "Your final performance will be fantastic, you always are."

Tim smiled at him, a light blush staining his cheeks – or he could have just been flushed from the cold wind blowing across the campus.

They reached the best of the campus coffee shops and Kurt pushed open the door, breathing in a deep lungful of warm, coffee-scented air.

"We should be able to have classes in here," Kurt said as they approached the counter.

"The only downside of that is that you would spend all your money on coffee." Tim stepped up to the counter and ordered their coffees, ignoring Kurt's protest at him paying for both of them.

"You need to _stop that_," Kurt told him as they found a table and sat down.

Tim pulled back the lid of his coffee, dumping a sachet of sugar in it and stirring. "Stop what?"

"Stop paying for my coffee all the time, you do it every time we go for coffee together."

"Next few times you can buy then, how does that sound?" He grinned at Kurt around his coffee stirrer.

Kurt returned the grin as he met the sparkling brown eyes across from him. "It sounds like I'll have to buy you some pretty expensive coffee to make up for all the times you've paid for mine."

"You can buy me food as well." He took a sip of his coffee. "So how are you coping with the early mornings? Smashed an alarm clock yet?"

Kurt absently traced a circle around the lid of his coffee with his finger. "They aren't so bad." He replied, his mind on the hazel eyes he had seen on his train again that morning, had seen on his train every morning except Friday. Kurt watched him every day they caught the train together, watched him read a book, listen to his iPod, play on his phone, or sometimes just wait for the train to take him to his destination. This morning he hadn't been trying to occupy himself during the journey and when Kurt had snuck a glance at him he had met those large hazel eyes for a long second, Kurt's heart leaping in his chest, before they both looked away, Kurt blushing slightly as his pulse raced.

"Kurt?"

Kurt jerked back to the present. "What, sorry?"

Tim shook his head at him, a fond smile on his face. "I don't think early morning classes are treating you well, you were completely out of it just then."

"Oh," Kurt shifted in his chair and took a quick gulp of coffee. "Maybe I am a bit tired."

"I guess there wouldn't be much point in me asking you out to go see a movie tonight then? You'll just fall asleep."

Kurt stuck his tongue out at him. "I could manage tomorrow night. I don't have class until later on Thursdays."

Tim's eyes lit up. "Great! I'll pick you up from your place at seven, we can get dinner first."

Kurt smiled at him, his heart racing. "Sounds good!"

They discussed their classes for a while and before Kurt knew it, Tim was glancing at the time on his phone and widening his eyes. "Crap, I'd better get going or I'll be late, my next class is on the other side of campus."

"I'd better get to class as well." Kurt finished his last mouthful of coffee and began pulling on his coat.

"I'll see you tomorrow night, but I'll probably talk to you before then." Tim came around the table until he was at Kurt's side. He brushed a quick kiss on Kurt's cheek. "See you tomorrow." He said softly before smiling and hurrying out into the cold.

Kurt could feel the heat in his face as he slung his bag over his shoulder and left the coffee shop. Once outside he lightly touched the spot where Tim had kissed him, smiling softly.

* * *

The 'don't walk' sign changed and Blaine crossed the road, swerving around the front end of a taxi that had stopped over the line. He joined the stream of pedestrians walking to the subway station at the end of the block. His eyes drifted slightly to the left and landed on a familiar profile – he recognised the pale skin, the styled hair, and the fashion sense. His head was bent over a pile of papers allowing Blaine to study him discreetly. Blaine's eyes ran up and down him, lingering for a little longer on his face and legs which were once again clad in tight skinny jeans. Blaine moved to walk behind him as they descended the stairs into the station and he caught a glimpse of a section of the papers he was holding, making out the letters in bold at the top right-hand corner of the page – NYADA.

So, he was an actor and possibly a singer as well, and a talented one at that. Blaine knew that NYADA only took the best of the best and entry was extremely competitive. He had considered applying there himself as he enjoyed acting and had been in several musicals at Dalton, but decided that music was his true passion and he would rather focus on that. A small part of him was regretting that decision now, the part of him that was continuing to appraise the blue-eyed young man as they both crossed the platform.

Blue Eyes sighed and slid the papers he had been reading into his bag, his eyes raising to sweep the crowds on the platform. Blaine quickly averted his gaze and pulled out his iPod, scrolling through his songs, aimlessly clicking on different albums and reading the song titles in each one.

He peeked out the corner of his eye at Blue Eyes; he was looking in Blaine's direction, so Blaine pretended to be engrossed with his iPod, suddenly self-conscious. He licked his lips, conscious of his facial expression and no longer able to find a comfortable position for his mouth. Starting to feel a little stupid scrolling pointlessly through songs on his iPod, he searched through his bag for his timetable. Scanning down the column for today, he pretended to be noting what classes he had – he was sure he could still feel the eyes of the beautiful NYADA student on him. As he continued to stare down at his timetable, he realised he didn't have a class until 11am after his first lecture and decided to text Jeremy when he got off the train and ask if he wanted to go and get coffee. If he remembered correctly, Jeremy didn't have class during that time either. On the pretence of checking the time on his watch, Blaine looked up.

Blue Eyes had his iPod in and was staring ahead at the deserted tracks, clearly lost in his music. A small smile tugged at the corners of Blaine's mouth at the sight, the smile widening when the NYADA student's lips moved slightly, mouthing along to the lyrics. It was with some reluctance that Blaine dropped his gaze.

On the train Blaine allowed his eyes to flick to Blue Eyes every now and then. Like they had yesterday, their eyes met for a brief moment and Blaine blushed when he looked away, his heart rate accelerating. Not for the first time, Blaine wondered if this beautiful stranger noticed him like Blaine did, if he thought about him, or if he just thought Blaine was a weird stranger who kept staring at him.

* * *

**A/N: **I made a couple of errors with the subway in the other chapters, but hopefully I've fixed that now. Thanks to everyone who pointed those out!

Does anyone know of any places in NYC that regularly have local musicians play? (Clubs/bars/random small venues that would have someone perform some songs on guitar/piano). I'm struggling to find quite what I need on Google, but if I can't find anything before I post the chapter I need it for then I'll just use my imagination.

Thank you to everyone reading, reviewing, and putting this story on alerts/favourites!


	4. Chapter 4

Kurt pushed aside several shirts muttering the word 'no' under his breath when he regarded each one. Pausing at a blue shirt, he pulled it out of his closet and tugged it on, considered his reflection in the full-length mirror on the back of his closet door, then shook his head and removed the shirt, hanging it back up carefully and pushing it along the rail to join the rest of the rejected clothing. He returned to searching through his clothes, getting more frantic as time went on.

"I don't know why you're making such a big fuss about your outfit." Rachel commented from where she was sitting on Kurt's bed watching his desperate searching for a suitable outfit. "You keep saying it isn't a date, so why not just wear what you would put on if you were going out to dinner with me?"

Kurt tried on another shirt. "Because-" he held a tie up against him. "Because it's…different," he said lamely. He wrinkled his nose at his reflection and put the tie and shirt back in the closet.

Rachel picked up a pot of cream from his nightstand and examined it. "_How_ is it different exactly? Enlighten me."

Kurt watched Rachel replace the pot of cream and pick up a tube of moisturising cream in the mirror whilst he debated over a shirt and waistcoat ensemble. He snatched up a pair of jeans from where he had discarded them earlier on his bed. "It just is," he pulled the jeans on and examined his reflection from all angles. "I see you _every day_, you've seen me at my best and my worst, so it doesn't matter so much what I wear around you. Tim is different, I haven't known him as long and I don't see him as often."

Rachel put back the tube of cream she had been frowning over and raised an eyebrow at Kurt. "That's a lame excuse and you know it."

Kurt said nothing to this and pulled off the jeans he was wearing, discarding them as too casual. "Just because _you're_ happy to go out in outfits that would make fashion designers weep, doesn't mean everyone is."

"My fashion sense has improved _a lot_ lately!" Rachel protested. "You said so yourself!"

"Only thanks to me," Kurt retorted, tugging on another pair of jeans.

Rachel watched him try different outfit combinations in silence for a few minutes before speaking again. "I still think you aren't telling me everything about this evening."

Kurt silently tried on a few more shirts until Rachel's staring became too much. "_Fine!_" He burst out, spinning around to glare at his friend. "It's a date alright! Happy now?"

Rachel clasped her hands together, a huge smile on her face. "I _knew_ it!" She squealed. "You two are so cute together!" She bounced on the bed and Kurt couldn't help but smile at her reaction. "I can't believe it has taken you this long to go on a date."

Kurt surveyed his reflection, smoothing out his waistcoat. "We both went home for the holidays and were really busy, not exactly the best time to start dating."

A loud buzzing interrupted whatever Rachel was about to say.

"Shit, I'm not ready!" Kurt fumbled through his ties.

Rachel jumped to her feet. "I'll let him in and keep him entertained until you're ready." She all but skipped out of the room.

"Don't you _dare_ say anything that will require me to yell at you for later!" Kurt shouted after her.

Holding three ties against him at once, Kurt strained his ears as the faint sound of voices drifted into his room. He tied his chosen tie with shaking hands and quickly smoothed out the collar of his shirt just as Rachel's laugh rang through the apartment. Rushing now, he grabbed his wallet and phone and gave his hair one final check over, before hurrying into the living room.

Rachel and Tim both looked round when he entered the room and Kurt dropped his eyes, brushing imaginary lint off his jeans as Tim's eyes swept over him.

"You look stunning as always, Kurt."

Kurt smiled slowly at him. "Thanks, you look great too."

Tim shrugged as he looked down at the well-fitted shirt and jeans he was wearing. He flashed a bright smile at Kurt. "Ready to go?"

Kurt nodded. "Just let me grab my coat."

Rachel winked at him as he and Tim headed to the door.

"Have a good time, guys," she said as Tim held the door for Kurt

Tim shot her a quick smile over his shoulder. "We will."

As they descended the stairs in Kurt's building, Tim glanced over at Kurt. "I chose a small restaurant a few blocks away for dinner – their food is fantastic. I hope that's ok."

"Sounds good."

They stepped outside into the cold evening and began making their way slowly up the street. The moon was a smudged creamy fingerprint over some of the smaller buildings and most of the stars were washed out by the city's bright lights which made Kurt feel a small pang of homesickness for Lima. He missed being able to lie on his back and gaze up at the night sky, all his problems fading away, insignificant under the vast inky sky scattered with the diamond pinpricks of distant stars and universes.

They fell into easy conversation as they walked and Kurt found himself laughing a lot – he had forgotten how much he enjoyed spending time with Tim. When they reached the restaurant Kurt recognised the name that was displayed over the doors and large window at the front of the building. "Oh, I know this place. Finn took Rachel here once, she raved about it afterwards."

"Well, that's four positive comments I've heard about it now, so I don't think we have to worry about a poor meal spoiling our night."

Kurt met his eyes and smiled, his heart pounding as he followed Tim into the restaurant.

* * *

"It was _ridiculous_!" Kurt laughed, shaking his head.

Tim grinned at him. "That one definitely won't be added to my DVD collection."

Tim pushed open the door of the movie theatre and Kurt shivered when a blast of cold air greeted them. He huddled up inside his coat as he and Tim began walking away from the theatre. Just as he was about to slide his hands into the pockets of his coat, Tim reached out and took his hand. Kurt glanced sideways and he smiled shyly at him.

They walked in silence for a while, Kurt's heart racing at the feel of Tim's hand in his. Just when he began to worry that he should say something, Tim spoke.

"I've been trying to figure out how to tell you this all evening-" he broke off and shook his head. "Not just this evening, but for a while now and-" he broke off again and inhaled deeply.

They had stopped walking now and were standing on a fairly quiet stretch of street still holding hands.

Kurt frowned slightly at him; he had never seen Tim this nervous before.

Tim licked his lips. "What I'm trying to say is I really like you, Kurt."

Kurt stared at him, his eyes widening and his heart racing.

Tim's eyes were searching Kurt's, trying to gauge his reaction. "I've liked you for a while now and I hope what happened at that party last semester didn't ruin things because I was drunk and-"

Kurt cut him off before he could continue rambling. "We were _both_ a bit drunk and-" he hesitated for a moment. "I like you too." He met Tim's eyes, still feeling a bit unsure.

Tim moved closer and bent his head towards him slowly. His lips brushed against Kurt's and Kurt shivered, his eyes fluttering closed. Tim kissed him softly at first, then with more force as Kurt began returning the kiss. When they broke apart they stared at each other, both a little breathless. A smile lit up Tim's flushed face and Kurt couldn't help but return it.

* * *

Blaine sighed and tapped his foot impatiently as Nick – yawning and grumbling under his breath – shoved the last of his books into his bag. Blaine looked pointedly at his watch when Nick finally stumbled his way over to where he stood by the front door.

"Ok, _ok_ I'm ready!" He pushed past Blaine and yanked open the door.

Blaine followed him out and locked up behind them. "If we miss the train it's your fault," he said as he caught up with Nick on the stairs.

"We have plenty of time, stop worrying. I'm not used to getting up early anymore."

They hurried to the subway station, Nick grumbling the whole way. Blaine just didn't want to miss his usual train and seeing the handsome young man that took it. To his relief they arrived at the station with a few minutes to spare and Blaine scanned the people waiting on the platform for a familiar figure, finally spotting him down the far end.

"Why can't we just wait here?" Nick asked, trailing behind Blaine as he made a bee-line for the far end of the platform.

Blaine stopped a short distance away from the blue-eyed NYADA student, surreptitiously checking him out as Nick joined him.

"What was wrong with waiting back there?" Nick pointed behind him.

Blaine shrugged. "You don't have to fight through as many people to get on the train here."

Nick said something in response to this, but Blaine wasn't listening. He watched Blue Eyes smile slightly as he looked at his phone.

"Blaine!"

Blaine snapped his gaze around to Nick who was glaring at him looking half-annoyed and half-amused. "See something you like?"

Blaine felt heat rush to his face. "Uh, what? No- what are you- what?"

Nick smirked at him and peered at the people on the platform behind Blaine. "The one in the scarf and boots?"

Blaine looked over his shoulder at him to try and hide his blush. Trying to regain his composure, he stared intently at a billboard on the wall behind Blue Eyes for a few seconds, only turning back to face Nick when most of the heat had left his cheeks.

He shrugged nonchalantly. "I just thought he was kind of attractive, so I was just…checking him out."

Nick looked like he was trying not to laugh as he watched Blaine scratch the back of his neck whilst his eyes darted around the station. "Right," he said, turning his head away to hide a smile.

Their train arrived at the station and Blaine led the way over to it, relieved that Nick had dropped the subject. He didn't realise he had automatically followed Blue Eyes onto the train car until Nick spoke.

"Does he take this train every day?" He asked, as the train pulled out of the station.

Blaine spoke without thinking. "Except Thursdays." It took him a second or two to realise what he had said, but when it dawned on him he whipped his head around to see a smirking Nick.

His friend simply stared at him with his eyebrow raised.

Blaine sighed. "I accidently bumped into him on this train in the second week of semester and I've seen him on this train every day since – except Thursdays." He paused, debating whether or not to say more, and then he sighed again, resignedly. "I don't know why I keep watching him, but I do. I can't help myself."

Nick's smirk faded slightly. "You could always just talk to him you know."

Blaine stared at him with wide eyes. "I can't just _talk_ to a random stranger on the _subway_!"

"Why not?"

"Be- because you just don't _do_ things like that!" Blaine spluttered.

Nick watched Blaine as he stared down at his feet, occasionally sneaking a peek at Blue Eyes from under his lashes. "Well, you can just enjoy staring at him every morning, though I'm sure a certain someone wouldn't approve."

Blaine looked guiltily up at his friend, whose expression was neutral. He knew Nick was right, but it wasn't like he was flirting with this guy, he was just watching him.

* * *

**A/N: **I'm sorry about Tim and Kurt, I really am, I don't like it anymore than you do. Their relationship, by the way, was what I was warning about in the author's note of the first chapter. I know some people don't like reading stories where all of a sudden Kurt or Blaine are making out (or more) with another character when they haven't been warned about it coming, so I thought it was best to just prepare you, in a rather vague way.

Thank you to everyone reading, reviewing etc. I love hearing what you think of the story and that you are enjoying it!

I'm guessing that the people who are reading and favouriting my other story 'Cursed' are finding it through this story, if you are one of those people then thank you for reading it! It's nice seeing it still getting hits even though I finished posting it a while ago.

Next chapter will be up on Saturday :)


	5. Chapter 5

A car horn blared in the street outside and Kurt was jolted out of sleep. Sitting up and running a hand through his hair, he glanced over at the clock on his nightstand. He blinked at the numbers displayed.

"_Shit!_"

Leaping out of bed he ran to the bathroom and began brushing his teeth whilst trying to coax his hair into an acceptable style at the same time.

He couldn't believe he had slept in – this was the first time he had ever slept through his alarm. He _knew_ he had stayed up too late on the phone with Tim last night.

For the first time in as long as he could remember he pulled on the first outfit he saw instead of carefully deciding what to wear. He then quickly glanced in the mirror, snatched up his phone and his bag, and grabbed a granola bar from the kitchen before rushing out the door. He took the stairs in his building three at a time and sprinted down the streets to the station.

"_Dammit!_" He cursed under his breath when he saw the last car of his train disappearing into the tunnel.

With a sigh he took the stairs up off the platform slowly, checking the time on his phone to find he had to wait just over five minutes for the next train. Slumping against the wall beside the entrance to the station, he stared glumly out over the street. Taking this later train wouldn't make him late for class – if he walked the distance between NYADA and the station quickly he could just make it on time – but he was missing out on seeing the guy with the bowtie. It was ridiculous that not being able to see a stranger had pretty much ruined his day. He looked forward to seeing him, partly to just stare at him because he was so attractive and somehow entrancing, like he had some form of magnetic pull over Kurt, but also partly because he liked to speculate on what type of person he was in his head. He often spent an entire train journey pondering if he had a job, if he was studying in New York and if he was then what he was studying. To his own annoyance, he found himself wondering if the other guy was dating someone. It was pointless allowing his mind to go down that track; even if he was single (and with the way he looked Kurt doubted it) there was a strong chance that he was straight. Kurt found it hard to tell just by looking at the other guy if he was gay or not, he didn't scream gay the way Kurt knew he sometimes did, but the way he dressed sometimes had Kurt doubting that he was straight. Bowtie had been with another guy yesterday and Kurt had watched the pair carefully, only feeling slightly stalker-ish. They had joked and chatted with each other, but nothing had passed between them that gave the impression that they were more than friends. Kurt had felt relief at that and had had to remind himself again that he had a boyfriend.

Pulling out his phone he shot off a text to Tim.

_You made me sleep in and miss my train. I'm not happy._

A reply came almost instantly.

**I'm sorry :( I'll make it up to you! x**

_How exactly? Buying coffee won't work, you buy me too much of that x_

**I'll think of something ;) x**

Rolling his eyes, Kurt slid his phone back in his pocket and made his way down into the station and over to the train pulling up at the platform.

It was a little strange travelling on the train without seeing Bowtie. Kurt felt almost like a friend he normally travelled with everyday had stayed at home ill and now he had to sit through the journey on his own and it felt quiet and lonely. He wasn't in the mood for listening to music or even reading through his latest script, so instead he spent the journey staring blankly at the opposite side of the train car, his head filled with white noise.

* * *

Blaine searched the waiting crowds on the platform as he walked down to the far end where he usually waited. Unless he had missed him somewhere, which he doubted, then Blue Eyes was nowhere to be seen.

'Maybe he's just running late this morning,' Blaine told himself, 'or maybe he's ill…'

Every time Blaine noticed some more people descending the stairs to the platform he would look up, but none of them was ever who he was waiting to appear. When the train arrived he made his way onto it, trying to ignore the pang of disappointment from knowing he wouldn't be able to see Blue Eyes today. This was probably, as Nick had said last night, slightly creepy.

He remembered what Nick had mentioned yesterday about talking to the stranger. Every day he saw him the urge to do so became greater, but actually plucking up the courage to do it was another thing. And what would he say? He couldn't just walk over and say 'Hi, I'm Blaine Anderson and ever since that day I bumped into you on this train a few weeks ago, which you probably don't remember, I've felt this strange sort of pull towards you. Also, I think you're really hot.' Yes, Blaine was sure that would go down well. And how would he do it? He couldn't just walk over and introduce himself. Maybe he could bump into him again?

He mulled over different ways he could talk to Blue Eyes during the journey to NYU, each of them sounding more ridiculous than the last. He was so distracted that he didn't notice Scott until his friend was less than a foot away from him and calling his name, looking exasperated.

"You really do go completely deaf when you're lost in that gelled head of yours, don't you?"

"Sorry," Blaine said distractedly, his mind still on the blue-eyed stranger.

Scott squinted down at him. "What's on your mind, Blainers? Surely you're not worried about the theory test?"

Blaine snapped out of his thought. "What?" He blinked at Scott. "Oh no, I'm not. I'm just-" He broke off, his brain finally focussed on the conversation and realising he couldn't tell Scott the truth, he was friends with Jeremy. "I've just been really struggling to write lyrics to this piece of music I wrote on the piano a while ago. It's really been bugging me."

This was the truth. He still hadn't been able to come up with lyrics for that piece of music. The versus and choruses felt just out of reach and every time he sat down in front of the piano and tried to write he could feel the lyrics almost forming in his head, but he would always loose them just before he could grasp them. It was extremely frustrating.

Scott was nodding knowingly. "I've been there. Sometimes it just takes a while for the right words to come to you." He smiled at him. "You'll probably get inspiration when you least expect it. Sometimes you just have to experience something or meet someone and suddenly it hits you."

They had reached the lecture theatre by now and Scott threw himself down in his usual seat whilst his words echoed in Blaine's head. He sat down slowly and stared at the front of the room where the lecturer was shuffling through some papers without really seeing anything.

"The right experience…" He said slowly.

Scott frowned at him. "What?"

Blaine shook his head as the lecturer started the class. "Nothing."

* * *

**A/N: **This chapter is a little short isn't it? Sorry about that. Quality not quantity though, right? :)

I can't remember if I ever mentioned this, but in this story Blaine graduated at the same time as Kurt. I hate that Blaine is a junior on the show.

Thank you for reading, and for all the reviews, favourites, and story alerts!


	6. Chapter 6

"Today's the day."

Blaine stood in front of the mirror and talked himself into what he had planned out in his head as he lay awake in bed sometime between night and dawn after being awoken by some unknown trigger. It had seemed like a good idea at the time as he had lain there staring up at the ceiling whilst sleep slowly tugged him down into its cloudy, ever-changing depths. Now as he stared into the eyes of his reflection he wasn't so sure about what his semi-conscious brain had decided. Talking to the stranger who had caught him staring a few times in the past and had returned his gaze wasn't something he could ever be comfortable doing; people just didn't _do _that.

He had planned several different ways of striking up a conversation with the NYADA student and had miraculously remembered them when he had woken to the bleeping of his alarm and had rehearsed each of them three times whilst he got dressed.

"Just do it, Blaine," he told his reflection. "Courage." His reflection's chin tilted up slightly and the hazel eyes lost all hesitation and insecurity. "Courage," he repeated, as if by saying the word aloud to himself multiple times he would bless himself with the desired trait.

He stared at the mirror for a moment longer before turning away, holding the image of his confident reflection in his mind to try and prevent all his nerves and uncertainties from surfacing again. Some part of him seemed to understand that he would regret it if he never spoke to Blue Eyes and luckily that part of his mind was predominating right now and he was able to hold the mask of confidence as he left his apartment and walked to the subway station.

He scanned the crowded platform, hoping that Blue Eyes would be there. He really hoped he wasn't taking a different train now as he hadn't been on the usual train yesterday. But no, Blaine recognised coiffed hair and bright blue eyes down at the far end of the platform. He walked briskly towards where he stood, like he was magnetically attracted to the other man. His plan was to wait until they were both on the train before he approached him, so he whiled away the time until the train was due by pretending to be absorbed in selecting a song on his iPod whilst discreetly glancing at Blue Eyes out the corner of his eye every now and then.

With every passing minute that meant his train was drawing closer, Blaine felt his confidence slipping and he ran through his plan again to try and stop panic settling in resulting in him chickening out. He would just bump against Blue Eyes and apologise, then he would comment on how this was not the first time they had bumped into each other on this train and he assured himself he could keep the conversation flowing from there. Or if it didn't look like that could work, he could just casually stand next to him and shift closer in the inevitable rush of people cramming onto the train and could offhandedly make a comment on how busy this train always was. He was leaning more towards the 'bumping into him' plan.

The train arrived and Blaine hurried towards it, keeping as close behind Blue Eyes as he could. He took a deep breath as he stepped onto the train and followed the attractive stranger over to an empty section of the train where he stood next to him trying to act as casually as possible.

A rush of people streamed onto the train, most aiming for the relatively empty section of the train car where Blaine and Blue Eyes stood. Just as Blaine gathered all his courage and went to bump against Blue Eyes he noticed a dark-haired guy standing on the other side of Blue Eyes lean towards the person Blaine had spent days plucking up the courage to talk to and weeks admiring, and whisper in his ear. Blue Eyes blushed and murmured a reply just as the train pulled away from the station.

The mixture of nerves and excitement that had been buzzing around inside Blaine all morning like trapped bees suddenly vanished and were replaced by a dull numbness. He turned his back on the two young men and allowed a large woman carrying an overstuffed handbag to get in between himself and Blue Eyes, effectively blocking his view of him.

He didn't know how he had managed to miss that Blue Eyes hadn't been alone on the platform, he supposed he must have been so absorbed in working up to talking to him that he hadn't noticed that he was accompanied by someone who was clearly his boyfriend.

Despite the couple not being in his view anymore, Blaine could still see them. The image of the two of them together was burned into his brain. All of this, everything Blaine was feeling, just confused him. He didn't even _know_ this guy, but he couldn't shake the image of himself standing next to the beautiful blue-eyed man on the train, holding his hand and giving him a quick kiss before he got off at the station for NYADA. It was completely absurd and turned his mind into a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions that swirled around his head so rapidly that it all blurred into a single feeling that resembled motion sickness.

He stepped off the train when it reached his station, feeling dizzy. It wasn't until he was almost at the stairs leading up off the platform that he realised he was lurching slightly as he walked, like he was unstable on his feet. He had to concentrate on walking to control it and to appear like his normal self which finally distracted his mind from the image still burned there.

When his phone buzzed and he read the cheery message he had received, guilt was added to the turmoil of emotions he was currently experiencing. He couldn't _believe_ himself right now and wanted nothing more than to be able to give himself a shake and shout 'what is _wrong_ with you, Blaine?' He was scaring himself, he couldn't believe a complete stranger was having this effect on him and had changed his life so much that he barely knew himself anymore.

* * *

Blaine collapsed on the couch, letting his head fall back as he closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. His head was thumping, it felt like someone was bashing around inside his skull with a baseball bat.

"Had an exhausting day as well have you?" He heard Nick ask and the couch moved as his friend sat down next to him.

Blaine groaned in response, pressing the heels of his hands to his eyes. "My head feels like it's about to split open," he said after a few moments of silence.

He felt Nick shift on the couch, presumably to face him. "Have you taken some painkillers? I can get you some."

"I've already taken some; they are just taking their sweet time to kick in." He dropped his hands and opened his eyes, sighing. "It's not just the headache though, I'm- I just don't know anymore."

Nick frowned at him. "What do you mean?"

"I just-" Blaine struggled to find the words. "It's like I don't know myself anymore. I don't understand anything I'm feeling or any thoughts I'm having anymore."

Nick watched him anxiously, his eyes searching Blaine's face. "Maybe you're just pushing yourself too hard, you have always been driven to succeed and be the best at everything you do and maybe all those long hours of working hard are just finally taking their toll. You probably just need to take a break, Blaine and have some time to yourself."

Blaine thought about this, it could be possible had it not all started around the time he bumped into the blue-eyed stranger on the train. "Maybe," he said, "but I don't think that's what it is." He hesitated. "Do you remember that guy on the train? The one that you caught me staring at the other day?"

Nick nodded, smirking slightly. "Yeah, I remember him."

Blaine licked his dry lips. "I think the way I'm feeling has something to do with him. This all started after I first saw him and it gets worse each time I see him. I know it's weird," he added, seeing the look on Nick's face. "I just- I just _don't understand_."

Nick stared at him for a minute, watching as Blaine rubbed at his temples with his eyes closed. When Blaine opened his eyes again he could tell Nick was struggling with something.

"Blaine, you have a boyfriend," he said gently.

"I know! I know! I feel awful. Why does Jeremy completely leave my mind whenever I'm near this guy, whenever I think about him? What _is it_ with him? I don't even know his _name_! Why does he have this effect on me, Nick?" He finished wearily, dropping his head into his hands, insides burning with guilt at the thought of Jeremy.

Nick laid a hand on his shoulder and was quiet for a minute before he spoke. "Maybe you should take a different train in the morning, just try and forget about this guy."

Blaine sighed. "I can't, I have to take that train if I want to get to class on time. I could take an earlier one I suppose, but that means getting up even earlier."

"Ok," Nick said slowly. "Ok, well you can't change trains." He paused. "Look, Blaine you are obviously attracted to this guy and whenever you see him Jeremy goes to the back of your mind because of that."

But it wasn't just that. Blaine had been attracted to guys before and they had never caused him to feel like this, it was like he had a connection with this stranger.

"Which is just absurd," he muttered.

"What?"

Blaine shook his head, trying to clear his mind of this new train of thought and wincing when it caused his head to give a sudden, sharp throb of pain. "Nothing," he said quietly. He got to his feet. "I'm going to go lie down until this headache clears."

Nick nodded slowly, still watching him with concern. "That's probably best. Take a glass of water with you."

Blaine nodded and fetched the water. On the way back through the living room to his bedroom he paused. "I can't take a different train, but you're right. I have to try and forget about this guy. I have a boyfriend and it's not like anything is ever going to happen with this other guy, he's just someone I see on the train most days."

Without waiting for Nick to reply beyond nodding at him, he headed into his bedroom, lying down on his back on the bed and closing his eyes. Not wanting his pounding head to start picturing Blue Eyes again, he began reliving memories of the Warblers and his friends from Dalton and after a while he drifted off into an unsettled sleep.

* * *

**A/N: **Poor confused Blainers.

Huge thank you to everyone reading and for all the reviews!

Chapter 7 will be posted on Saturday :)


	7. Chapter 7

With his eyes fixed straight ahead of him instead of sweeping the platform, Blaine walked slowly down the stairs. His feet automatically began taking him down to the far end where he normally waited for his train and where the blue-eyed NYADA student waited as well. He managed to stop before he got close enough to be able to see Blue Eyes through the masses whiling away the time until their train arrived. He found it difficult to prevent his eyes from drifting in the direction where he knew Blue Eyes was standing and it took a lot of effort for him to not picture him and what he could be wearing. He tried both his iPod and his phone as a means of distraction, but neither worked, so instead he counted the cracks in the concrete in front of his feet. There were three, the largest one disappearing out of sight under one of his shoes.

He was counting the cracks for the fourth time when someone ran across the one furthest from him, the one that lay just on the edge of his line of vision. Glad for a distraction, Blaine glanced up and watched a short dark-haired girl in a skirt trying to make her way through the dense crowd next to him.

"Kurt!" The girl called out as the crowd parted, letting her through just as the people next to Blaine shifted and he had a sudden unobstructed view of Blue-Eyes. The young man looked up as the short girl approached him, looking puzzled. He said something to her, but Blaine couldn't hear over the noise filling the underground station. He doubted he would have heard even if the station had been dead silent. _His name was Kurt_.

Kurt. It suited him, suited his pale, flawless skin, his bright blue eyes, and his beautiful smile.

He dragged his eyes away from Kurt and the girl he was talking to. He was supposed to be trying to forget about him and think of him as nothing more than another one of the dozens of people that caught the same train as him in the morning, but now he knew his name it was suddenly much harder to do. His name was _Kurt_ and he was a NYADA student. Though they had never talked beyond that brief exchange when they first saw each other, he didn't feel like a stranger to Blaine anymore, not a complete stranger anyway. Knowing his name just made him want to find out more about Kurt and he would have gone through with his plans to strike up a conversation with him if it wasn't for Jeremy. It wasn't that Jeremy disliked him talking to other guys or didn't trust him; Blaine just knew that Jeremy wouldn't think that talking to Kurt was just an innocent conversation, he was bound to think that there was something more behind it – and he would be right. There was no way Blaine could pretend he didn't find Kurt attractive or hide that he felt a strange connection to him.

It was these thoughts that caused Blaine to get on a different train car from Kurt. He didn't want to be tempted to stare or to approach him. He wanted to take Nick's advice and try and rid his mind of him, no matter how hard it would be.

* * *

"_Trust me_, this place has _fantastic_ coffee." Tim led the way into the small coffee shop.

"Well, we walked over ten minutes to get here so it had better be amazing." Kurt looked around when he stepped inside. It wasn't as big as some of the coffee shops on campus, but it had a number of tables with café chairs or armchairs grouped around them. The air was filled with the delicious aroma of coffee beans and cinnamon, and it was warm and very pleasant inside. It wasn't overcrowded and noisy like the coffee shops on campus which were always packed with chattering students, instead there were only a few small groups of people sitting at the tables and conversing in low voices.

As Tim made his way up to the counter, Kurt found his attention drawn to three young men sitting at a table in the corner poring over papers and books whilst having a lively discussion. With a leap of his heart he recognised the one sitting in the centre when he looked up to take a sip of his coffee – it was the guy from the train.

Kurt froze a few paces behind Tim, who had reached the counter and was ordering. He couldn't believe it, he had only ever seen him at the station before, but now here he was at the same coffee shop as Kurt.

As he stood staring at the bowtie-wearing guy in shock, he realised that he recognised his dark-haired friend from when he had joined him on the train one day. The blond guy on Bowtie's other side was unfamiliar to Kurt and once he was over his shock at seeing Bowtie here, he couldn't help but wonder if he was Bowtie's boyfriend, even though he still wasn't sure if he thought Bowtie was gay or not.

"Kurt, are you alright?"

Kurt turned to look at Tim who was now standing beside him holding two coffees and looking a little concerned. Kurt forced a smile and turned his back on Bowtie and his friends. "I'm fine." He pointed to an unoccupied table at the furthest side of the shop from Bowtie. "Let's go sit over there."

Tim handed Kurt his coffee when they sat down and Kurt was relieved to see that the look of concern on his face had cleared and he almost sighed in relief when his boyfriend started talking about a song he was performing tomorrow.

He tried to stay focussed on his conversation with Tim, but his eyes kept drifting over to where Bowtie sat laughing and talking with his friends. Thankfully, Tim was in the middle of a long explanation on the finer details of his upcoming performance that the conversation didn't require much participation from him and he was able to get away with just a nod and a smile every now and then and with a noise of agreement every time Tim paused. This allowed Kurt to stare unashamedly over at the guy from the subway. Even though he had chosen to sit at this particular table to try and stop himself from spending a date with his boyfriend watching another guy, the chair he was sitting on had an almost unobstructed view of Bowtie and he couldn't help but stare.

Kurt watched him as he smiled at his dark-haired friend as he spoke, his smile lighting up his whole face and making a smile appear on Kurt's face, with one hand absently fiddling with his grey and white plaid bowtie. His blond friend said something to Bowtie and their other friend, gesturing at the coffee cups on the table amongst their scattered books and papers. Bowtie got to his feet and headed over to the counter, presumably to get them refills for their coffees. Just before he reached the counter his dark-haired friend called after him, his voice carrying clearly across the small coffee shop.

"Blaine, I don't need decaf! I'm_ not_ getting hyper!"

Kurt's eyes widened as he watched the bowtie-wearing guy – Blaine – shake his head and laugh at his friend before stepping up to the counter and ordering. Kurt had already felt an inexplicable attraction to this complete stranger, some kind of pull towards him, and now that he knew his name it got stronger, deeper, and it scared Kurt how interested in, and how attracted he was, to someone he didn't know.

"Kurt?"

Kurt snapped his gaze away from Blaine to face Tim, who was watching him from the seat across the table looking amused.

"Completely lost you for a minute there."

Kurt blushed slightly. "Sorry, I just have a lot going on right now."

Tim nodded. "Yeah, I remember this time last year when I was doing this part of the course. I spent a lot of evenings chained to my desk working."

Kurt nodded absently, his thoughts already back on Blaine as he watched him return to his table carrying coffee out of the corner of his eye.

* * *

**A/N: **Now they no longer have to refer to each other as 'Blue Eyes' and 'Bowtie' :)

Another fairly short chapter, but they start getting longer after this as Kurt and Blaine start to learn more about each other.

Thanks for reading and for the favourites etc etc :)


	8. Chapter 8

"His name is Kurt."

Nick looked up from his phone, frowning across the room at where Blaine was slumped on the piano bench half-heartedly playing through some new sheet music. "Who?"

Blaine let his fingers slide along the keys, absently playing half of a scale before he dropped his hands onto his lap. "The guy from the train, the one I should be trying to forget about."

Nick just stared at him, the phone in his hand now forgotten.

"So much for trying to forget about him," Blaine continued dully, staring down at the piano keys. "Now that I know his name forgetting him is practically impossible and I feel so guilty and ridiculous and confused and a little creepy because I'm pretty much a stalker now, aren't I?"

Nick didn't seem to know what to say and just continued to stare at his friend, a slight frown still on his face as Blaine dropped his head into his hands muttering 'why?' over and over again with increasing desperation as if hoping if he said it aloud enough times an answer to everything in his messed-up mind would suddenly appear sharp and clear and simple in front of him.

Eventually he raised his head and met Nick's eyes. "_Why?_" He whispered.

Nick opened and closed his mouth several times before speaking. "I can't see what is going on inside your head, Blaine so I don't know the whole story and I don't think you do either." He paused. "I think this is something you need to try and figure out for yourself. Go somewhere quiet and think through everything: Jeremy, Kurt, yourself, what has happened these last few months – everything. You need to decide what you want to happen and where you want this to go. Do you want to talk to this Kurt guy and actually meet him or do you just want to forget about him and put this all behind you? Because it has to be one or the other, Blaine and I know you know that. It can't go on like this." He stood up after remembering the phone he was holding and glancing down at it. "I have to go; I'm meeting up with some people in one of my classes to work on my assignment." He hesitated by the front door, his bag threatening to slip off his shoulder. "Jeremy is coming over soon, isn't he?"

Blaine sat up straight so quickly he jerked a muscle in his neck. Ignoring the pain, he stared at Nick in a panic as he tried to remember the day and the date, horror flooding him as he remembered that Jeremy would be here in about twenty minutes.

Nick shook his head sympathetically at Blaine, a sad smile on his face as he watched his friend look around the room frantically. "You _really_ need to sort this out, Blaine you can't go on like this." He adjusted his bag on his shoulder before it could fall. "I think you should consider talking to Jeremy about this as well, you can't carry on keeping this from him, and he's bound to notice you aren't acting yourself lately if he hasn't done so already."

Nick left and Blaine ran his fingers through his hair, tugging hard at the curls with his fingers, trying to clear his head with the pain. He squeezed his eyes shut; Kurt's face hovered behind his lids instead of Jeremy's. Slamming his fists down on the piano keys, he opened his eyes and strode out the room, the loud crashing of the piano notes clashing together reverberating through the apartment.

* * *

The sounds of numerous different conversations blended together into a loud buzzing which surrounded Kurt as he sat by himself in a corner of the room where his acting class was being held. Thoughts about Blaine, Tim, and himself whirled around inside his head like a tornado, everything swirling too fast for him to discern more than a quick flash of each thought before it had whipped out of reach.

The sound of footsteps approaching him rang above the buzzing of his fellow students as Rachel joined and greeted him cheerfully. Without waiting for a reply, she launched into her usual spiel about the upcoming class and everything that had happened in her last class and how everyone had once again been in awe of her voice and her performance of 'Don't Rain on My Parade'.

'At least someone is their usual cheery, confident, ambitious self,' Kurt said to himself as Rachel continued to talk, her voice getting increasingly louder the longer she spoke.

"-and she was _completely_ off-key for the second half of the bridge which just proved my point that I'm a much better candidate for- Kurt, what's wrong?"

Looking up from the patch of slightly dusty floor that he had been staring at since he arrived at this class, Kurt met Rachel's eyes. "What?"

Rachel looked caught between exasperation and concern. "You haven't said a word to me since I sat down and I don't think you have been listening to a word I have been saying."

Normally Kurt would have replied with a snarky comment, but he wasn't in the mood and too worn out to do anything more than mutter, "I don't know."

Rachel shifted in her chair and just as she opened her mouth to speak, Kurt sighed and elaborated. "There's this guy I've been seeing on the train almost every day…"

He told Rachel the whole story, tired of being stuck with it himself and having no one to talk to about it when he was feeling so confused and uncertain and just really needed someone to give him some helpful advice, to explain to him what was happening and what he should do.

"-yesterday I found out, by complete accident whilst at a coffee shop with Tim, that his name is Blaine and I- I just- I don't know," he finished, avoiding Rachel's eyes.

"Kurt, you have to talk to him, you have to meet him!"

Kurt stared at her like she had suddenly grown an extra head. "_What?_"

Rachel's eyes were bright and, to Kurt's annoyance, she looked excited. "You have to find out if he works somewhere or if he is studying at one of the colleges in the city somewhere."

Kurt found himself getting more annoyed with himself and feeling more stupid as Rachel carried on talking. After a while he could stand it no longer and cut her off. "Forget it, Rachel I'm _not_ following him off the train one day or whatever other crazy idea you just suggested. I have Tim and it's wrong for me to keep thinking about another guy all the time," he told her angrily. "I'm just going to forget about Blaine."

"But-"

Kurt shook his head. "No, Rachel I shouldn't be doing this," he said firmly, trying to convince himself as much as he was convincing Rachel.

He sat in silence with his jaw clenched for a few minutes as the class started and the room fell silent as everyone listened to the teacher talking.

Rachel leaned closer to him. "You can't keep something like this from Tim, if he ever found out it could ruin your relationship, you _have to tell him_," she hissed.

Kurt shot her a look of disgust, his annoyance and anger at everything, especially himself, reaching boiling point. "You have hidden much worse things from Finn in the past so you can't tell me that telling Tim would be the best thing to do."

Rachel scowled at him and they spent the rest of the class in an angry silence.

* * *

There was a knock on the door and Blaine dragged himself over to answer it, standing with his hand on the handle for a few seconds as he composed himself and plastered a bright smile on his face, before pulling the door open to reveal his smiling boyfriend whose green eyes lit up when he saw Blaine.

He greeted Blaine with a quick kiss. "Feels like it's been ages since I last saw you."

Blaine stepped aside to let Jeremy into the apartment and closed the door behind him before joining his boyfriend on the couch. Jeremy was perched on the edge of the couch and looked like he was on the verge of jumping onto the coffee table and shouting ecstatically.

"I have some fantastic, amazing, wonderful, _exciting_ news!" He told Blaine, pushing his dark blond hair out of his eyes, his voice quivering with excitement.

Blaine couldn't help but smile. "What is it? Did you save up enough money for that car you wanted?"

Jeremy shook his head. "I got you a gig at Bar4!"

Blaine's jaw dropped. "Y-you- you didn't- _how?_"

"A friend of mine knows the owner and I got in contact with them and showed them some of your music and he was really impressed and offered you a chance to perform there."

Blaine stared at Jeremy in shock, he couldn't believe it.

"Say something!" Jeremy beamed at him.

Blaine opened his mouth and tried to speak, but couldn't find the words so instead he threw his arms around his boyfriend, pulling him into a hug. "Thank you _so_ much, I can't believe you _did this_ for me!" He managed to splutter out after a few moments.

"You're welcome," Jeremy laughed.

Blaine pulled back slightly and kissed his boyfriend, smiling against his mouth.

"You're performing next Saturday night, I hope that's enough time for you to prepare. I would have told you earlier, but it was only confirmed yesterday and I wanted to wait to tell you in person." Jeremy told him a little breathlessly when they broke apart.

Blaine couldn't stop smiling. "That's fine, it's plenty time." He bounced on the couch a few times. "I can't believe this is happening!"

"Believe it. You are going to be amazing; they are bound to ask you back to play there again."

Blaine shook his head. "I doubt that."

Jeremy took his hand and squeezed it. "You're really talented, Blaine. I can't wait to see you perform, to stand in the audience feeling so proud because that's _my boyfriend_ up there on that stage."

Jeremy smiled at him as he leant forward to kiss him again, a smile still on his face, one that was completely different to the smile he had worn when Jeremy had arrived a short time ago.

* * *

**A/N: **Bar4 is a lounge and music venue in Brooklyn, NY - it took me way too long to find somewhere in NY that I thought was suitable for this story.

How good was last night's Glee? Their Nationals performance was definitely the best competition performance they have ever done, watching it reminded me of why I love Glee so much. And after seeing the promo for next week I know I will a sobbing mess during that episode.

Huge thank you to all of you reading and for all the reviews and favourites, they are all so much appreciated and never fail to put a smile on my face :)


	9. Chapter 9

Blaine was picking out a new song on his guitar when Scott burst into the apartment.

"Don't you _knock_?" Nick exclaimed loudly from where he was lying on his stomach on the couch flicking through a textbook. "I could have been dancing around the apartment in my underwear!"

Scott dropped down onto the couch next to Blaine. "Do you ever _do_ that?"

"He did one time not long after we moved in here," Blaine gave an exaggerated shudder at the memory. "Thankfully, he hasn't done it since I threatened to film him and show it to every potential girlfriend."

Nick scowled at him.

Scott was grinning. "What was he dancing to?"

"One of Blaine's Katy Perry records," Nick mumbled.

"After all those times he teased me for being such a big fan of hers," Blaine said happily, his smile widening at the look on Nick's face.

Nick sat up, tossing his textbook aside. "Ok, I think we have laughed at me long enough." He looked over at Scott. "Why were you so desperate to see us that you couldn't even wait long enough to knock and for one of us to let you in the apartment? And how did you get into the building?"

"I have a key," Scott reminded him, holding up a set of keys on a small key-ring. "A friend of mine at NYADA is in a performance at the college tomorrow night and she got some tickets for me, so I wondered if you guys wanted to come?"

"Which friend is this? Have we met her?" Nick asked.

Scott nodded. "Yeah, it's Melissa. You met her a few months ago."

Nick smiled. "I remember her! Yeah, I'll come."

"Great! What about you, Blaine? I have another extra ticket which I was going to offer to Jeremy, I know he's not busy."

Blaine nodded. "Yeah, sure I'll go."

Scott stood up. "Great! Well, I have work I'm supposed to be doing, so I'll meet you guys outside the auditorium at NYADA at 7.30 tomorrow night and I'll let you ask Jeremy, Blaine. See you tomorrow!"

* * *

The walk from the subway station to NYADA felt long in the near-freezing temperature. Blaine tugged the beanie he was wearing further down over his ears which felt like they were slowly turning into blocks of ice as he and Nick approached the NYADA campus.

"Do you have any idea where the auditorium this is being held at is?" Nick asked, huddling into his coat.

Blaine started to shake his head until he spotted a sign post on the path ahead. Hurrying over to it, he peered up at the buildings listed, searching for the name of the auditorium that Scott had texted him earlier.

"This way," he told Nick after spotting the auditorium on a sign.

Nick followed him down a path which lead deeper into the college's campus. They walked quickly, both eager to get to the auditorium as soon as possible to get out of the cold. They soon rounded a corner and the auditorium came into view. Groups of people were heading inside and a few small clusters of people stood shivering slightly outside.

"Nick! Blaine!"

Scott and Jeremy waved them over to where they stood just to the left of the auditorium doors.

"Hey, guys!" Scott greeted them cheerfully as Jeremy greeted Nick before kissing Blaine.

"Enough of that," Nick grabbed the back of Blaine's coat and began tugging him towards the doors. "Let's go in, I'm _freezing_!"

Slapping Nick's hand away, Blaine followed him inside; slipping his hand into Jeremy's when his boyfriend fell into step beside him.

"Have you been working on your set list for next Saturday?" Jeremy asked as they stepped into the rapidly filling auditorium and followed Nick and Scott down one of the aisles.

Blaine smiled at the thought of his upcoming performance. "I've chosen most of the songs I want to play and I've been working on a new song lately that I hope to have finished in time to play on Saturday as well."

They came to a stop behind Nick and Scott who were consulting the tickets and examining the numbers on the row of seats next to them.

"Do I get a sneak-peek of the set list?" Jeremy asked.

Blaine shook his head. "Nope, I want it to be a surprise."

Jeremy pouted and Blaine stuck his tongue out at him before shuffling along the row of seats behind Scott until he reached his one.

"So, what exactly is this performance we're seeing?" Nick asked as they sat down.

"It's an original short play written by and starring the second year students featuring songs from Broadway productions," Scott replied, settling back in his seat.

Blaine sat up a little straighter. "Sounds interesting. It could be fantastic if done properly which, knowing NYADA's standards, it will be."

The auditorium steadily filled around them and soon the lights dimmed and the performance started. Scott's friend Melissa was one of the first out on stage along with a shorter dark-haired girl with an incredible voice who Blaine was sure he had seen before somewhere. He stared at the girl as she continued to belt out a verse of 'Don't Rain on My Parade' whilst some of her fellow performers danced behind her. He was positive he had seen her before, and recently, but he couldn't think where.

The song ended to thunderous applause and some more people came on stage as a dialogue part of the show was acted out. Blaine found himself becoming more impressed as the show went on, he had always known that the students of NYADA were excellent at performing as the college only accepted the very best, but the talent of the people on stage was blowing him away. Judging from the dead silence of the rest of the audience, he wasn't the only one completely captivated by the performance.

As the scene continued, Blaine found his attention being repeatedly drawn to a slender young man upstage. He had a beautiful voice, higher than most males, which Blaine could only describe as angelic. He was wearing a hat that put his face in shadow so Blaine, frustratingly, couldn't see what he looked like. He couldn't wait for him to sing and hoped he had a decent solo as Blaine could tell he would be an amazing singer. He almost groaned out loud when the scene finished and the guy with the angelic voice left the stage along with several others.

A couple of songs and several scenes later, some of which included the guy with the beautiful voice though annoyingly he had still only really been in the background so far, and the opening notes to 'Not The Boy Next Door' filled the auditorium and the young man he was so desperate to hear sing stepped forward into the light and Blaine's jaw dropped.

It was _Kurt._ He had removed the hat he had been wearing earlier and changed his costume and Blaine recognised him instantly; now he knew why his attention had been drawn to him whenever he had been on stage. Kurt began to sing and Blaine couldn't do anything but stare speechlessly at him. He knew his mouth was probably hanging open in awe and he was barely breathing, but Kurt's _voice_. He sounded beautiful, like nothing Blaine had ever heard before. He had a voice that Blaine knew he could listen to for hours without ever getting sick of hearing or would ever not feel breathless listening to. Kurt performed a completely flawless rendition of 'Not The Boy Next Door' and though a few others came out to join him on stage towards the end of the song, he might as well have still been alone on stage for all the attention Blaine paid to the other performers.

Blaine couldn't have dragged his eyes away from Kurt no matter how hard he tried as he watched him effortlessly hit the high notes towards the end of the song. Kurt looked like he belonged up there on the stage: acting, singing, and dancing looked completely natural and effortless for him and he was absolutely captivating whilst he performed.

The song ended and Blaine continued to stare dumbstruck at the stage for a few seconds before he joined in enthusiastically with the tumultuous applause.

"Wait a second," Nick whispered as the applause died off and another scene started on stage. Nick was frowning at the stage. "Isn't that-?"

He broke off suddenly and Blaine shot him a quick, confused look. Nick shook his head, indicating Jeremy with a nod of his head, before turning his attention back to the stage. Feeling more puzzled, Blaine faced the stage again, forgetting all about Nick when Kurt began to talk again.

* * *

Blaine sat frozen in his seat as he watched Kurt, hand-in-hand with the short dark-haired girl who Blaine now knew was who he had seen with Kurt at the subway station one day – the one who had inadvertently told him that the blue-eyed young man he saw regularly on the subway was called Kurt – bow along with the rest of the performers. He beamed down at the applauding audience, his nose crinkling up adorably with the extent of his smile. Blaine kept his eyes on him until the curtain went down, the lights came back on, and people began to start leaving the auditorium. He sat staring at the spot where Kurt had been standing until Nick nudged him and he snapped back to his immediate surroundings.

He followed his friends as they slowly made their way out of the auditorium, shuffling along behind other audience members. Nick, Jeremy, and Scott raved about the show as they walked, but Blaine didn't join in. He was only dimly aware of the conversation his friends were having and the presence of dozens of other audience members around him, his head was still filled with the sound of Kurt singing, his mind holding onto the image of him on that stage.

"_That was Kurt_!" A voice hissed in his ear.

Blaine jumped. They had finally exited the auditorium into the large entryway and Nick had held back to walk beside him, allowing Scott and Jeremy to move away ahead of them.

"Uh-" Blaine cleared his throat. "Uh yeah, it was."

Nick's eyes searched his face for a moment. "He is an amazing performer; his voice is just- _wow._"

Blaine nodded dazedly.

They reached the corridor leading through to the backstage area and dressing rooms. Scott and Jeremy were standing half-way up the corridor with Melissa, praising her performance. Nick placed a hand on Blaine's arm to stop him outside the corridor.

He hesitated, licking his lips. "I saw you during Kurt's solo. I saw the expression on your face, the way you were looking at him."

He paused and Blaine stared at him, not knowing what to say and unable to think of anything other than Kurt on that stage.

Nick shot a quick glance down the corridor where Jeremy and Scott were still talking to Melissa, Scott waving his hands around as he spoke. "Good thing Jeremy was too absorbed in the show to see your face when Kurt was singing, because-" He broke off, watching Blaine hesitantly for a few seconds. "You have a _big_ crush on Kurt, Blaine whether you have realized that yourself or not, and you really need to do something about it." He smiled at Blaine, just a brief, small upturn of the corners of his mouth, before he turned and walked away down the corridor to join Scott and Jeremy leaving Blaine staring after him, his mind reeling.

* * *

**A/N: **Are we getting closer to a Klaine meeting? Maybe ;)

I chose 'Not the Boy Next Door' because I love Chris Colfer's version of it and I'm not just talking about the tight gold pants.

It was nice to hear that Tim and Jeremy have a few fans out there :)

Thanks for reading, for all the favourites, and for all the reviews; I love hearing from you guys.

Next chapter will be posted on Wednesday after we have all seen the Glee season finale :'(


	10. Chapter 10

Blaine put all his concentration into taking notes on what the lecturer was saying. His brow furrowed as he focused on the pen in his hand, the paper in front of him, and the words coming out of the lecturer's mouth. Unbidden, the memory of Kurt singing on stage crept into his mind and took root there as it had been doing ever since the NYADA performance last Saturday.

When he had gotten home on Saturday night he had been exhausted from trying to act normal for the rest of the evening and keeping Nick's words buried in the back of his head. It was only when he was sitting in his room did he allow himself to really think about what Nick had said. He was only able to think it over for a short while until the direction his thoughts were going, the realisation his mind was about to grasp onto, started to scare him and he shoved it all – Kurt, Nick's words, the performance – to the back of his mind again, locking it away.

He was doing a pretty good job of keeping it all shut away and of avoiding seeing Kurt on the subway with him only occasionally slipping up and remembering Kurt singing or glancing over at him at the subway station. Worryingly, the number of times these slip-ups occurred was becoming more and more frequent as time passed and now barely a few hours passed without him thinking of Kurt. He had hoped he was stronger than this and would be able to resist the temptation to think about Kurt better, he had _hoped _he would have been able to forget about him.

"Blaine!"

Blaine started, looking around for the source of the voice, feeling like he had just been jolted awake from a deep sleep.

"Blaine?" Scott was watching him with a raised eyebrow.

Blaine shook his head slightly, trying desperately to clear his mind of Kurt. "Sorry, what?"

"I know you're probably nervous and that's completely understandable, but I didn't think you would be so worried about it that you would barely pay attention in class."

Blaine's face screwed up in confusion. "Nervous about what?"

Scott looked even more confused that Blaine felt. "Your gig tomorrow night at Bar4."

"_Oh_," Blaine sat back in his chair, "right." Suddenly noticing that the rest of the class were leaving, he quickly gathered his notebook and pen and shoved them into his bag before getting to his feet. "Yeah, I'm just worried that the performance won't go well, that I'll mess up or something."

Scott followed him as they made their way slowly down the steps in the tiered lecture theatre towards the doors down at the front of the room. "You've got nothing to be worried about; you've performed here lots of times before."

"Those were college performances for part of my grades, that's different to playing at a venue in the city for a much different audience."

They exited the theatre and Scott was able to walk alongside Blaine. He clapped a hand on Blaine's shoulder. "I know you want to be perfect all the time, but you don't have to be so nervous. Your songs are great, _you're_ great, they're going to _love _you, don't stress about it."

Blaine smiled and breathed a sigh of relief when Scott changed the subject. He didn't like keeping the truth from his friends, but he wasn't ready to tell the whole story about Kurt to anyone, not even himself.

* * *

Loosening off his scarf, Kurt stepped into the bustling coffee shop, sighing a little at the ruckus all the students were making. 'At least it's warm,' he thought, as he weaved his way through the tables and chairs to get to the counter.

"Grande non-fat mocha, please," he smiled at the barista.

Whilst he waited for his coffee he searched the room for an available table. A couple of young women who had been standing talking to a group sitting towards the back of the room headed for the doors and Kurt spotted Tim sitting at a table by himself by the back wall.

The barista handed him his coffee and he made a bee-line for Tim.

"You're early. I wasn't expecting you to be here for at least another ten minutes."

Tim smiled at him, his eyes lighting up. "Class finished early," he said, leaning forward to give Kurt a quick kiss. "How's your morning been?"

Kurt shrugged as he sat down. "Nothing exciting. Yours?"

"All right, better now though," Tim replied with a smile. "So, do you have any plans for tomorrow night?"

Kurt thought for a moment, sipping at his coffee. "Rachel and I have some coursework to do, but we should be finished before dinner."

"Great, because I've been hearing great things about this place called Bar4 which has live music from local musicians on most nights and I thought we could go and check it out."

"Sounds good! I'm up for that!"

Tim shot him a dazzling smile. "I'll pick you up at eight then."

* * *

Kurt was lacing up his boots when the buzzer sounded. Hurrying to answer it, he was glad that Rachel was out with Finn that night as she had been making a point of answering the door whenever Tim came over. He pushed the intercom button. "Hello?"

"Hey, Kurt! Ready to go?"

Kurt smiled when he heard Tim's voice. "Come on up, door's open, I'm almost ready." He pressed the button to let Tim into the building and unlocked the door of the apartment for him before dashing back into his bedroom to grab his coat.

He was checking his appearance in the mirror one last time when Tim suddenly appeared reflected behind him. He wrapped his arms around his waist and pressed a kiss to his neck and Kurt closed his eyes, leaning back into the embrace.

"You need to stop fretting about how you look all the time," Tim murmured into his ear, his breath against Kurt's skin causing a shiver to run through him. "You _always_ look beautiful."

Tim made a trail of kisses along his jawline and Kurt turned in his arms to capture his boyfriend's lips with his own. Tim pulled away after a minute, smiling at Kurt's noise of protest. "As much as I'd love to just stay and continue, we'd better go if we want to arrive before the live music starts."

Kurt sighed and stepped back. "Fine, let's go."

They caught a cab to Bar4 and arrived not long before that night's first performer was due on stage. The small bar was packed and had a lively atmosphere. A reasonably-sized stage was set up towards the far end with a microphone on a stand, a few amps, and a piano already on it.

"Do you want a drink?" Tim waved a hand at the bar running along one wall.

Kurt chewed on his lip. He didn't really feel like drinking something alcoholic tonight and he couldn't help but remember what happened the last time he drank alcohol around Tim. "I'll have a diet coke, thanks."

Tim flashed him a smile. "Be right back," he said, before heading over to the bar.

Kurt walked over to the small tables scattered in the space near the stage and sat down at an empty one.

A man stepped out onto the stage and stood in front of the microphone just as Tim returned with their drinks and took a seat next to Kurt. The man on stage announced that the night's first performer was Blaine Anderson before smiling at the crowd and swiftly leaving the stage.

Kurt's heart had given a sudden leap when he heard the name 'Blaine' and he rolled his eyes at himself. New York was a big city, the chances that the guy about to perform was the same Blaine he saw on the subway were extremely slim. He forced down the hopeful feeling and took a sip of his drink, almost spitting out his mouthful when he saw who was walking onto the stage. It was Blaine, _his Blaine_. So stunned he was at the sight of Blaine stepping up to the microphone with a guitar that he didn't even tell himself off for thinking of this guy who was still a stranger to him as 'his Blaine'.

Blaine smiled at the crowd and Kurt felt his heart stutter.

"Hey guys, I'm Blaine and tonight I'm going to be playing a mixture of original songs and covers. I hope that's alright."

'Oh, it's _more_ than alright,' Kurt thought. His brain finally managed to pull out of its stunned state and he realised he was about to hear Blaine _sing_. He had to remind himself to breathe.

Blaine opened with a cover of Katy Perry's 'Teenage Dream' and Kurt was unable to take his eyes off him. Blaine had a beautiful voice, one that he could listen to for hours, and he was excellent on the guitar. He had a way of drawing the crowd into his performance, so you couldn't help but watch and listen to him perform, but at the same time he got completely lost in the music – he was clearly really passionate.

Kurt was vaguely aware of Tim leaning closer to him. "Hey, he's really good."

"Mmm…" Kurt responded distractedly, his eyes still on Blaine as he smiled at someone in the crowd whilst singing the chorus.

Blaine moved on to a song of his own composition next and Kurt shifted in his chair, resting his arms on the table and leaning forward, watching Blaine intently as he started playing. He wished he could record the performance so he could listen to it again later when he wasn't in a crowded room with other people talking around him, so he could hear the melody and the lyrics properly, but he knew Tim would probably question this and he didn't want to try and explain himself.

With each successive song the amplitude and enthusiasm of the audience's applause at the end of each song increased until Kurt was sure everyone in the building was cheering and applauding Blaine's performance. He restrained himself at first and only politely applauded the songs, but as the performance went on he lost the ability to care if he was being over-enthusiastic and cheered loudly every time Blaine finished a song. He was even more impressed when Blaine played some songs on the piano, he had always loved listening to the piano and hearing Blaine play one whilst singing was just indescribable.

"Do you want another drink?"

Kurt dragged his gaze away from Blaine, feeling a little annoyed. "What?"

Tim indicated Kurt's half-finished drink on the table in front of him and his own empty glass.

"Oh, no thanks, I'm good," Kurt told him brusquely, before turning his attention back to Blaine.

He didn't notice Tim returning, but he must have because a short while later he made a comment about Blaine's choice of song.

Kurt spared him a quick look before turning his eyes to the stage again. "What's wrong with Neon Trees?" he asked, his mind paying more attention to the sweat glistening on Blaine's neck than Tim, so he missed the reply to his question.

All too soon, Blaine was announcing his final song. "I have one last song for you. This is a cover of The Cab's 'Vegas Skies'."

He played the opening notes and then started to sing, raising his eyes to look at the audience. He was just lowering his head again to drop his eyes to the piano in front of him when his eyes met Kurt's. Their gazes locked and Blaine almost missed the start of the chorus, but caught himself and continued to sing whilst keeping his eyes on Kurt. Deep down, a tiny part of Kurt was screaming to look away, to drop his gaze before Tim noticed the intensity with which they stared at each other, but that part got smaller the longer he held Blaine's gaze until he didn't think he could look away even if he wanted to. Blaine's hazel eyes _burned_ into him, touching some part of him that he didn't know existed, causing something to start coalescing in him, but before it could form into something recognisable, the song ended and Blaine looked away. Kurt watched breathlessly as Blaine licked his lips – and was that a blush on his cheeks?

"Ok, well- uh, thank you, guys. Thanks for listening and I hope you enjoyed at least one of the songs." Blaine smiled at the crowd as everyone applauded once more, his smile widening as his gaze shifted to somewhere off to Kurt's right. His eyes flicked to Kurt once more before he turned and left the stage, guitar in hand whilst Kurt stared after him, still unable to form a coherent thought.

* * *

**A/N: **I'm torturing you guys with this, aren't I? I'm a terrible person ;)

'Vegas Skies' by The Cab came on my iPod's shuffle a month or so ago and I wanted to have Blaine sing it in this story because the lyrics work here and when I read the story behind the song it seemed even more fitting. If you give it a listen or know the song already just know that when Blaine performs it here it's a piano only version.

Glee season finale. The ending was left pretty open for season 4 and I'm a bit annoyed we didn't hear anything more about Kurt after he got his letter. Speaking of that letter, I had a mass rant about that earlier which I won't repeat here but I'll just say I'm pissed about it, the whole situation is pretty unrealistic. Looking on the bright side at least Klaine are still good (not that there was much doubt), unlike Finn and Rachel... that was a bit of a jerk move from Finn. The Single Ladies scene with Burt was the best, had the biggest smile on my face watching that.

Thanks for reading, the reviews, and the favourites! Next chapter will be up on Saturday :)


	11. Chapter 11

"Excuse me," Kurt says, vaguely registering that his voice sounded a little strange. The people at the fringes of a large group of chatting college students shift aside to allow him through a narrow gap between them and a concrete pillar.

Tim had gone to the bathroom leaving Kurt sitting stunned at the table until he finally snapped out of his trance and decided to go and get himself another drink. The building was packed and the short walk from the table to the bar was proving a lot more difficult than he had anticipated. He wriggled through a tight space between a guy in a baseball cap and a red-headed girl tottering on stiletto heels and the bar came in sight. Just before he reached it, a flash of movement caught his attention out the corner of his eye and he glanced over to see Blaine leaning against the wall a short distance away from the bar, chatting with a small group of people. Kurt froze where he was, half-way across the narrow slice of space between the bar and the crowds, and stared at Blaine, his heart taking off at top speed. As he watched, Blaine smiled and nodded, saying something to the group and the three males and single female he was talking to moved away and were soon swallowed up by the crowds.

Seeing Blaine standing there alone and taking a sip of his drink, Kurt made a split-second decision and approached him. His mouth was dry, his palms were sweaty, his breathing was irregular, and his heart was racing, but it was too good an opportunity to pass up. It was now or never.

He was right in front of Blaine now and Blaine looked up at his approach, his bright hazel eyes widening fractionally and his lips parting when he saw Kurt. For a moment, Kurt's breath caught and he stared into Blaine's eyes, trapped in the pools of gold.

"Hi," he said breathlessly. He took a deep breath before continuing. "You did a fantastic job performing earlier, you're very talented. I especially loved your original songs."

Blaine smiled and Kurt's heart stuttered. "Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it. I was a bit worried about having so many of my own songs in the set list seeing as I hadn't performed most of them in public before, so I'm really glad you liked them."

He had the most beautiful voice, he could have read the entire dictionary aloud and Kurt would have listened, enthralled.

Blaine held out a hand. "I'm Blaine."

"Kurt." He shook the offered hand, feeling a skipping sensation in his stomach at the feel of Blaine's hand in his. He dropped his hand slowly, reluctantly. "How long have you been writing your own music?"

"Since I was in high school. Music has always been my way of expressing myself, of letting out the emotions I'm feeling at the time. Do you play any instruments?"

Kurt shook his head. "Not really, no. I can play a little piano, but nowhere near as well as you do. I mostly sing."

Blaine straightened up so he was no longer leaning against the wall and brushed at his jeans with his eyes lowered. His eyes flicked briefly up to Kurt's face a few times before he raised his gaze to meet Kurt's again, his expression shifting to something Kurt couldn't quite read.

"You look familiar," Blaine said, the slight tremble in his voice only just noticeable. "You don't happen to go to NYADA do you?"

Kurt's eyes widened as he stared at Blaine in shock – how did he _know_ _that_?

"I do, actually; I'm a second year student there."

"I was at a performance put on by the second years last Saturday. A friend of a friend of mine was in the show and a few friends and I went along to support her. I really enjoyed the show, loved the mixing of the classic Broadway songs with your own original script."

Kurt couldn't believe it, couldn't believe that _Blaine_ had been at that show, had been sitting in the audience whilst Kurt had been on the stage completely unaware.

"Who is your friend?" Kurt asked, his voice sounding stunned.

"Her name is Melissa," he shrugged. "She went to high school with my friend Scott."

Kurt nodded. "Oh yeah, I know her, she's in some of my classes."

Blaine opened his mouth, hesitated and then said, "You were fantastic in the show, one of the best. You're a very talented actor and your singing-" he broke off and started to talk again several times, but cutting himself off each time as if he were struggling to find the words. He closed his eyes, smiling and shaking his head slightly before opening them again to meet Kurt's eyes. "Your voice is just breath-taking; I've never heard anyone else sing like that before. You're a countertenor, right?"

Kurt nodded, surprised he hadn't melted into a puddle of goo at Blaine's feet from his words and the way he was looking at him.

"_Wow_," Blaine said softly.

Kurt smiled a little tightly at him as memories of high school suddenly came flooding back to him. "Thanks, I wish everyone felt the same way. The kids in high school weren't particularly appreciative of my voice."

Blaine looked like he wanted to say something to this, but changed his mind. "Well, everyone would have loved you at my high school. It would have been great to have had someone with your ability in the Warblers."

"The Warblers?" Kurt asked, puzzled.

"Oh, that was my high school show choir group."

Kurt stared at Blaine - the guy just got better and better, he couldn't believe how much they had in common. "You were in a show choir? Me too!"

Blaine's face lit up and Kurt felt his own smile widen in response. "Really? What was your group called? Maybe we competed against each other at some point."

Kurt started to reply, but was interrupted by an exclamation of "There you are, Kurt!" just behind him. Recognising Tim's voice, he fought back a groan and forced a smile over his shoulder at him.

"Been looking for you everywhere," Tim announced when he reached Kurt's side.

"I was just talking to Blaine, telling him how well he did performing earlier," he said, indicating Blaine with a wave of his hand.

Tim shot Blaine a smile. "Oh yeah, you did a great job. You have a nice voice."

"Thanks," Blaine replied stiffly, his answering smile tight.

There was a short awkward pause, and then Blaine spoke. "My friends are probably wondering where I am, I'd better go and find them." His eyes met Kurt's again and his smile softened. "It was nice meeting you, Kurt."

"You too and well done again on your performance tonight, it was amazing, really." He hesitated, flicking his eyes briefly over to Tim. "Maybe I'll see you around again sometime."

"Maybe," Blaine smiled, holding Kurt's gaze for a few seconds longer before turning and disappearing into the crowd.

* * *

Blaine stood waiting as Nick unlocked the door to their apartment, his eyes fixed on the door but instead seeing Kurt's face as he smiled at him, as he praised Blaine's performance, as he called Blaine talented, as he said he loved his songs.

He was still wrapping his mind around the fact that he had actually had a conversation with _Kurt_, that he actually _knew_ him now. He still expected to suddenly wake up and find out it was all a dream, all something conjured up by his brain whilst he slept in one of those vivid dreams that feel real and leave you feeling disoriented and confused when you first wake up.

"You ok, Blaine? You've been quiet all the way home."

Blaine blinked; he had entered the apartment without even noticing and now stood in the living area in front of Nick who was watching him closely. "Yeah, I'm fine, great actually, never been better."

Nick's eyes narrowed slightly. "You were like this for a while at the bar as well, acting weird and distracted."

Blaine shrugged, setting his guitar case down and moving to sit on the couch. "I'm just on my post-first performance high."

Nick didn't look like he bought this, but he dropped the subject and they started discussing how the performance went again, debating which songs the crowd liked best and which ones to maybe consider changing on the set list next time. It wasn't until Nick came back through from the kitchen with a glass of water that he brought up the way Blaine was behaving again.

"Ok," he said, sitting down next to Blaine and jolting him out of the memory of talking to Kurt. "Something happened at that bar tonight and you are going to spill."

Blaine opened his mouth to deny this, but before he could speak Nick shook his head. "Don't try to deny it, Blaine if you won't tell me then I'll just call Jeremy and get him to tell me. I'll even rope in Scott and you _know_ Jeremy will talk then, he isn't good at keeping things quiet from us."

Blaine felt his face heat up. "It uh- it isn't anything to do with Jeremy."

Nick blinked. "Oh."

"Kurt was at the bar tonight and saw my performance. He came over to praise me on it and we ended up talking for a bit," he said a little apprehensively.

Nick was silent for a long moment and Blaine fidgeted under his gaze. "Have you talked to Jeremy about Kurt yet?"

Blaine shook his head slowly, a small flash of guilt flitting through him until he told himself that he had just been talking to Kurt about music and his show. He had done nothing wrong.

Nick was still watching Blaine closely giving Blaine the unpleasant sensation of being held trapped under a microscope. "Where is this going with Kurt? Are you going to talk to him when you see him on the subway or was the conversation with him tonight just a one-off thing? Are you becoming friends with him or what?"

A small spark of anger flared up inside Blaine – why did Nick always have to ask these questions whenever Blaine mentioned Kurt's name? Why _should_ he have to plan out exactly what he wanted to happen with Kurt? Why couldn't he just let it all work itself out over time? Why did it matter? It wasn't as if he was doing anything wrong by doing this. He sighed, trying to reign in his anger, not wanting it to flare up. "Kurt just came over to say he enjoyed my performance, like several others did. It was a completely innocent conversation."

"But it wasn't really, was it?" Nick asked quietly.

Blaine struggled with his thoughts for a while, unable to think of anything to say to this, until Nick cut off his internal struggle. "I don't want to tell Jeremy about this and I'm not going to, it's not my place and it's something the two of you need to work out for yourselves." He got to his feet. "You should really tell him, Blaine before it's too late and too late is rapidly approaching."

Nick left the room then, heading for his bedroom. It was a few hours later when Blaine eventually got up from the couch and went to bed, though he very much doubted he would get any amount of sleep.

* * *

**A/N: **Yay for Klaine meeting! :) :) It only took them 10 chapters.

Now you all just want Tim and Jeremy to go away and move to Narnia, don't you?

Thank you for reading, for favouriting, and for the reviews! Chapter 12 will be up on Wednesday :)


	12. Chapter 12

The strength and colour of the light filtering through the curtains wasn't enough to enable Blaine to roughly tell the time, so he reluctantly turned his head and raised it wearily to read the numbers displayed on the clock by his bed. His alarm wasn't due to go off for another twenty minutes, but there was little point in him lying in bed for any longer, he wasn't getting any rest.

He shuffled blearily through his morning routine of washing and dressing, exhaustion weighing down his body. He had barely gotten any sleep last night or Saturday night and instead had spent his time in bed tossing and turning, his mind too busy to allow for sleep. Endless thoughts of Kurt, Jeremy, Nick, and himself chased each other around in circles in his head whilst he lay there begging it to stop, praying for a straightforward solution to materialise.

To his surprise, the kitchen wasn't empty when he reached it. Nick was seated at their small table, staring intently at the screen of his laptop with several books and papers scattered on the table around him.

"You're up early," Blaine said, pulling the first box of cereal his heavy eyes landed on towards him.

Nick glanced at him briefly over the top of his laptop. "Oh, morning, Blaine." The tapping of his laptop's keys filled the small kitchen. "This assignment is due today and I just need to finish it off." He smiled distractedly at Blaine when he joined him at the table with his cereal, then did a double-take. "You look terrible."

Blaine pushed at his cereal with his spoon. "I haven't been sleeping much these last two nights."

Despite this, he could feel himself becoming more alert the longer he sat there picking at his breakfast. Anticipation at seeing Kurt fizzed in his veins like caffeine and the stuffed-up, sluggish feeling in his head was clearing. In a short while he would see Kurt and he would actually be able to talk to him without feeling creepy.

Nick frowned at him as if he could hear his thoughts. "Well, don't push yourself too hard today or the next thing you know you'll be falling ill."

Feeling more revitalised, Blaine grinned at him. "Don't worry, Mom I promise I won't overexert myself."

Nick just rolled his eyes without looking up from his computer.

After a few unenthusiastic mouthfuls of his cereal he dropped his spoon back into the bowl and abandoned his breakfast, disposing of the soggy cereal in the trash.

"I'm out of here," he informed Nick as he grabbed his bag and headed for the door. Nick called a reply when he reached the door and began pulling on his coat.

"Ok, see you later."

"Bye!" He stepped out onto the chilly landing and jogged down the stairs.

By the time he hit the streets he was starting to feel the bubble of nerves which weren't helped when he caught a glimpse of his reflection in the window of a café. Nick was right, he looked_ awful_. There were grey crescents under his bleary eyes, his skin was pale and looked pinched and drawn, his shoulders were slumped with exhaustion, and his mouth was set in a weary line. '_Fantastic_,' he thought moodily, stomping down the street. 'I'm getting to see Kurt and I look a mess.'

Sighing, he fumbled in his wallet for his Metrocard and swiped it, before descending the stairs onto the platform, looking around nervously. He chewed on his bottom lip as he made his way down to the far end of the platform, his eyes straining for a glimpse of Kurt as he drew closer to the spot where he usually waited. His heart sank when he scanned the people standing nearby, Kurt wasn't among them.

He was about to slouch against the wall and wallow in his disappointment when there was a shout behind him.

"Blaine!"

He turned, his heart leaping in his chest at the sound of the voice. Kurt was walking towards him, a smile on his face and looking beautiful as always. A smile broke across Blaine's face, all feelings of tiredness gone. "Kurt, hi!"

"How was the rest of your weekend?" Kurt asked when he reached Blaine's side.

Blaine shrugged. "Nothing special, just coming down from the buzz of performing on Saturday night and then I had some college stuff to do. How was yours?"

"Pretty similar to yours, mostly college stuff and my roommate wanted me to help her run through some lines for her acting class and that ended up taking a whole afternoon. Rachel is _extremely_ ambitious and likes to make sure she has the script memorised and her lines perfected." He rolled his eyes, but there was a fond smile on his face. "That would be all great and completely reasonable if the date she was performing the part wasn't over two weeks away."

Blaine laughed. "Sounds like she can be a bit of a handful."

"She can be – she annoyed me a lot in high school – but I'm used to her now."

Blaine smiled, but the unspoken detail that this wasn't the first time he had seen Kurt at the station nagged at him until he could stand it no longer. "Kurt, I have a confession to make. I already knew who you were when you approached me on Saturday, and not just from seeing you at the NYADA show, and this is not the first time I have noticed you at this station. I've seen you almost every day here, you stood out to me, I don't know why."

"Probably my outfits," Kurt tugged at the collar of his bright yellow coat. "I've always stood out because of them." He paused. "It hasn't always been a good thing." His eyes searched Blaine's face for a moment. "I've noticed you as well. Ever since you bumped into me on the train a few months ago I've sort of…watched you." A blush stained his pale cheeks and he dropped his gaze. "I couldn't believe it when you stepped onto that stage on Saturday," he said, still avoiding Blaine's eyes. "New York is such a big city with millions of people in it, so I never expected to run into you there like that." He raised his eyes to meet Blaine's. "I'm glad I did though, I've wanted to meet you since I first saw you, but-"

"But introducing yourself to a random stranger on the subway is a bit weird," Blaine finished for him.

Kurt laughed and Blaine smiled at the sound, knowing he would be playing it back in his head later.

"Just a bit."

Their train arrived then and they headed towards it, now discussing Blaine's performance last Saturday. Although most of Blaine's mind was intently focussed on Kurt and their conversation, a tiny part of it was revelling at the fact that he was talking to Kurt – actually _talking_ to him, not just dreaming about it – and Kurt was smiling and laughing at him. He never wanted this to end.

"So are you heading for work, college or…?" Kurt asked as the train pulled away from the station.

Blaine shifted his weight as the train swerved slightly. "NYU, I'm studying music there."

"Ah, no wonder you are so good at playing and composing music," Kurt said with a teasing smile. "You're taking classes in it."

Blaine pretended to pout. "I'll have you know I've been writing my own songs since I started high school and playing guitar and piano for longer than that."

Kurt became more serious. "Do you know what you want to do once you've finished your course? Are you aiming for a record deal?"

"A record deal would be fantastic, but I'm still not sure if I'd want to do that or do composing for movies or whatever. Although if I got a record deal I would be composing as well." He shrugged. "I guess I'll just see what happens when I've finished my degree." He nodded at Kurt. "You're heading for Broadway, of course."

Kurt smiled a little wistfully. "As much as I'd love that, and it has been my dream for years, I'm more realistic now than I was in high school. I know how hard it is to make it in theatre, so I'm not getting my hopes up."

"You have a better shot at it than others, you were the best at that performance I saw and I'm not just saying that, it's the truth."

Kurt returned his smile. "Thanks." The train slowed and he sighed when he saw what station it was. "This is my stop," he said sadly. The train came to a stop and people began exiting the train, Kurt reluctantly turning to follow them.

Blaine smiled, trying to hide his disappointment. "I'll see you tomorrow?" It came out as a question even though he knew Kurt would be on the train tomorrow.

"Same time, same place." Kurt smiled brightly at him, his blue eyes lighting up in a way that left Blaine momentarily speechless. "Bye, Blaine it was great seeing you again."

"Y- yeah, you too," he stuttered slightly. "Bye, Kurt."

Kurt shot him one last beautiful smile before he left the train leaving Blaine staring after him, his head full of Kurt's departing smile and his heart soaring.

* * *

Kurt made it half-way through the day before he was unable to keep it to himself any longer, unable to hide how unbelievably happy he was.

"I met Blaine over the weekend."

Rachel didn't look up from the script she was poring over and her lips continued to shape the words as she read. "Who?"

Kurt sighed, desperately wanting someone to share his excitement with. "_Blaine_, the guy I've been seeing on the subway for months, the one you told me to stalk."

Rachel looked up at him then, but her eyes were still unfocused and Kurt knew her mind was still on the script in her hands. "Why would I do that?"

"What?" Kurt asked, not understanding.

"Why would I tell you to stalk someone? Doesn't sound like the kind of advice I would give."

Kurt groaned. "Rachel, you are killing my buzz here." He snatched the script out of her hands, ignoring her shout of protest. "He was performing at Bar4 on Saturday night-"

"Wait, he was _performing_?" Rachel interrupted. "Performing what?"

"A mixture of his own songs and some covers of songs. He played the guitar and the piano." He was aware he was starting to sound like a teenage girl dreamily discussing her favourite celebrity, but he didn't care.

Rachel looked interested. "Was he any good?"

"He was _amazing_! He's really talented," he replied enthusiastically. "He has a beautiful voice," he sighed softly.

The sound of Rachel giggling pulled him out of his memories. "Someone's got a crush," she teased.

Kurt blushed. "I do not." The retort sounded weak to his own ears. "I just think he's a really interesting and talented guy who I'd like to be friends with."

Rachel raised an eyebrow, a smirk on her face. "Uh huh, sure."

Kurt ignored her. "I saw him on the subway again this morning, we talked. Turns out he is studying music at NYU."

Rachel clapped her hands together. "You sound_ perfect_ for each other! You could write Broadway musicals together! You could write the script, including a female lead for me, and he could write the songs!"

"He doesn't know if he wants to aim down the composing path or if he wants to try and get himself a record deal or do something else with his degree."

His phone buzzed and he automatically reached for it as Rachel continued to excitedly discuss the prospects for herself, Kurt, and Blaine on Broadway. She stopped abruptly when she saw Kurt's face fall as he read the text he had just received.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

Kurt set the phone down on the table in front of him. "Tim just asked me out for coffee later today."

"_Ti_- oh."

"Yeah," Kurt said in a small voice. "Oh."

* * *

**A/N: **And there's the first Kurt and Blaine subway time :)

I finished writing this story the other day whilst on the train (how appropriate). Still got a number of chapters to type up and edit and that is going pretty slowly as my exams started this week so I don't have much time to type up the chapters, but the updating schedule will stay the same (Wednesdays and Saturdays) so don't worry :)

I have an idea for my next story (several ideas for stories actually as my brain won't shut up, but I've picked one of them) and I need a little bit of help coming up with a name for one thing as everything I've thought of doesn't sound right. So if you think you could help me come up with a name for a talk show then mention in a review or message me and I'll give you a preview of the next chapter as a thank you.

Huge thank you for reading and for all of your reviews! I love hearing your thoughts on the story.


	13. Chapter 13

Ushering him out of his seat the second their last class of the day was over, Rachel grabbed Kurt's hand and all but dragged him to the subway and onto the train home. When he was finally no longer being marched through the streets and was instead sitting on the train, he pulled his hand out of Rachel's grasp.

"What's all this about?" he asked her for the third time.

Instead of answering him Rachel reached over and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket.

"Hey! What are you-?"

"I'm telling Tim that you can't manage coffee later as you are busy with coursework, but you'll be able to meet up tomorrow," she told him, typing out the text. "You need to sort this out, Kurt this is serious. I don't want to see you mess things up with Tim or lose what you have with Blaine."

Kurt stared at her. "Lose what I have with Blaine?" he repeated. "Blaine and I are barely friends! We've only spoken a few times!"

Rachel said nothing to this, just finished tapping out the text on his iPhone and sat with the phone in her hands. When she noticed him looking at his phone with raised eyebrows she said, "I need to wait until we're off the subway so I can send the text."

Kurt left her to it and they sat in silence for the journey home, Kurt bracing himself for whatever Rachel had planned for when they were back in their apartment.

As soon as they entered the apartment, Rachel sat him down on the couch and took a seat on the armchair, positioning it so that she was directly opposite facing him across the coffee table. She watched him for a moment, her expression serious and Kurt fidgeted under her stare.

"Do you still like Tim romantically?" she asked in a low voice.

Kurt gave a small, weak laugh. "What is this? An intervention? The Dr. Phil show?"

"Just answer the question, Kurt."

"I-" Kurt stuttered, stumbling over his words before managing to blurt out a response. "Yes, yes I do."

Rachel's eyes narrowed. "You don't sound so sure."

"I do still like him," he said firmly. "I've had a crush on him since we first met him – you know that."

"Yes, but that was before Blaine came into the picture."

"What picture? Blaine and I aren't even _friends_! We've only talked a couple of times!" He fought the urge to leap to his feet.

Rachel continued to keep her gaze trained on him. "I know that, but you've been interested in Blaine for months now, since near the beginning of semester. You gush about him to me a lot more that you do about Tim; you rush out of the apartment to the subway station to see him, whereas before you left at the last possible minute; you have this huge smile on your face when you talk about him; you blush at the sound of his name, Kurt this is more than just a casual acquaintance."

Kurt opened his mouth to speak several times, but was unable to come up with a response. He bit his lip as he watched Rachel's expression soften. "I've never seen you like this before, Kurt," she said quietly. "I've known you for years now and not once have I seen you act like this and I don't think you understand what it means."

Kurt just stared at her: his breathing rapid, his hands starting to shake, and his head filled with white noise.

"Kurt, I think you might be falling in love with Blaine," she said softly.

Kurt clutched at his sides just below his ribcage, the fabric of his shirt bunching up in his hands. "How can I be? I barely know him; you can't fall in love with someone you don't know." He clutched harder at his sides as if trying to keep himself together. "I don't believe in love at first sight, that's just based on what a person looks like."

A small frown line was appearing between Rachel's eyebrows. "That's not exactly-"

"And even if it were possible to fall in love with someone the first time you lay eyes on them, then surely it would only happen if a relationship would be possible? Blaine might not even be gay."

"But he might be," Rachel said quickly. "And, Kurt-"

"I don't believe in it, Rachel and you're wrong about my feelings for Blaine." He stood up. "Tim is my boyfriend and Blaine is just a guy I want to be friends with. Can a gay guy not have friends who are guys without being interested in dating them?"

Rachel looked upset. "No, Kurt that's not what I-"

"Just- Just drop it, Rachel." He spun on his heel and strode out of the room and into his bedroom, shutting the door behind him and leaning against it. Unclenching his fists from his shirt, he dropped his hands down by his sides, let his head fall back against the door, and closed his eyes.

* * *

Kurt hurried through his usual routine the next morning and left the apartment in record time. As he walked along the street to the subway, glad that the weather was improving and he no longer had to huddle up in his coat to keep warm, he ignored the sound of Rachel's voice in his head saying that he rushed to the subway to see Blaine; that he was looking for more than friendship with him.

He was at the station before Blaine and spent a few minutes eagerly searching the crowd for him until, with a huge smile spreading across his face, he saw him heading towards him with a matching smile on his face.

"Morning!" Blaine greeted him cheerfully when he reached Kurt's side.

"Morning, how was the rest of your day yesterday?"

Blaine adjusted the strap of his satchel. "It was pretty good."

They talked about their day for a few minutes, and then Blaine asked him what his plans were for Spring Break which started next week.

"I'm going home to Ohio for the holidays to spend time with my family. I go home every holidays, I miss them when I'm here," Kurt replied.

Blaine was staring at him with wide eyes. "You're from Ohio? Me too! Where about?"

"No way!" Kurt's own eyes widened in shock – it was almost scary how much he had in common with Blaine. "I'm from Lima."

"Westerville," Blaine said, sounding stunned. "We only live an hour or so apart." He gave his head a small shake. "I'm spending the holiday's home as well."

"I can't believe how close we live. What high school did you go to?" Kurt asked.

"Dalton Academy, it's a private all-boys school."

Kurt shook his head in disbelief. "I was going to transfer there during my junior year, but the tuition was pretty expensive so I persuaded my Dad and Step-mom to just let me stay at McKinley."

Blaine blinked at him. "Wow, if you had transferred then we would have met a lot sooner."

'Before Tim,' the thought entered his head completely unbidden and it shocked him more than the news that he and Blaine lived only an hour away from each other. He shoved the thought to the back of his mind, not wanting to dwell on it.

"If we're both going home for the holiday's then-" Blaine hesitated, a light flush on his cheeks as his eyes darted nervously up to meet Kurt's. "Ma- maybe we could meet up for coffee or something – if you want to."

Without having to think about it, Kurt smiled at him. "I'd like that."

Blaine's nervous smile widened and he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. "Here," he said, handing Kurt his phone. "Put your number into my contacts and we can arrange a time and place to meet up."

Kurt quickly added his number to Blaine's phone and then gave Blaine his own phone so that he could give Kurt his number. His heart pounded when Blaine passed his phone back and he looked down at the screen to see Blaine's name.

* * *

"Sorry I'm so late," Kurt sat his coffee down on the table and dropped into the chair opposite Tim. "Rachel wanted to stay back after class for one more run through of the song, but it ended up being more than just one and then, well, you know what she's like," Kurt finished.

Tim reached across the table and took Kurt's hand, squeezing it lightly. "It's fine, I was going through this script so I barely noticed that you were-" he checked the time on his phone, "twenty-five minutes late."

"Sorry," Kurt said again.

Tim grinned mischievously at him. "Do I get an apology kiss?"

Kurt rolled his eyes, but complied, leaning across the small table and placing a quick kiss on Tim's lips.

Tim pouted. "That was it?"

"I was only twenty-five minutes late; I have to be more than half an hour late for you to get more than that."

"Well, I actually got here five minutes early…"

Kurt shook his head, smirking. "Nice try."

Tim pouted again, but Kurt just shook his head at him and took a drink of his coffee. "I'm immune to pouting, Rachel has tried it on me for years, but it never works."

Tim sighed. "Fine, you win, I give up." He fiddled with the coffee stirrer lying on the table next to his coffee cup. "What are you doing for Spring Break? I was thinking we could go out to-"

Kurt shook his head and interrupted whatever plan his boyfriend was about to reveal. "I'm going home for the holidays, so I won't be able to do anything with you, sorry."

Tim looked crestfallen. "Are you going to be there for the whole holidays?"

Kurt nodded. "You know how close I am to my family, especially my Dad, I miss then a lot when I'm here which is why I spend as much time with them as I can," he explained at the sight of the disappointed look on Tim's face.

"I understand," Tim said in a small voice, looking down at the coffee cup between his hands. "I just hoped we would be able to spend more time together, we're both so busy during the semester that we don't get to go on a lot of dates."

"Yeah, it sucks, but it can't really be helped."

"I guess I'll just have to phone my Mom and let her know I'll be coming home for the holidays. She'll be happy with that." Tim raised his head to give Kurt a small smile.

"Don't you want to go home and see your family?"

Tim shrugged. "Sure, but I'd rather spend time with you."

Kurt couldn't think of anything else to say to this, so he just smiled and changed the subject to the script lying on the table which Tim had been reading when he arrived.

* * *

Kurt sighed and rolled his eyes when he read the content of the message. He closed the text without replying and tossed his phone aside, throwing it a little harder than he meant to so it landed at the far end of his bed. Rachel walked into the room from the living area just in time to see this.

"What's wrong?"

Kurt didn't look up from the clothes he was carefully packing into his suitcase. "It's nothing," he said shortly.

Rachel started edging towards his bed, her eyes on his phone and Kurt rolled his eyes, dumping a pair of jeans he had just folded into the case. "Tim has turned into a whiny pain-in-the-ass since he found out that I was spending the entire holidays at home."

Rachel froze, swivelling on the spot until she was facing Kurt. "What?"

Kurt sighed again. "He keeps sending me texts moaning about how he won't get to see me for a whole week and how he had hoped we could do all this stuff together blah blah blah." He knew he was sounding more aggressive than he really felt, but he was really _sick_ of how Tim was behaving at the moment. He was glad he was leaving for Ohio tomorrow and would get some distance from him for a while.

Rachel didn't say anything for a moment and the room was filled with the sounds of Kurt pulling clothes from his closet and placing them in his case after folding them neatly.

"I didn't think Tim was like that, I thought he would understand that you want to see your family."

"So did I," he said, slamming a pair of boots down next to his case with more force than necessary. "He said he understood, that he was disappointed, but he knew I really wanted to go home, but he obviously didn't mean it." His phone beeped again and he jumped to his feet. "Can't he give it a fucking _rest_?" He snatched up his phone and, upon seeing that the text was from Tim, snorted in disgust and deleted it without reading it.

He stomped back over to his case. "You would think he couldn't survive seeing me for a few days the way he is acting – and don't say that's sweet!" he pointed a finger at Rachel who took a step back. "Because it isn't. If he really cared about me then he would know why I have to go home and wouldn't whine about it all the time."

He continued in this vain for a minute longer until Rachel backed out of the room. "I'll leave you to your packing," she said, disappearing from the doorway.

Kurt was still grumbling about Tim under his breath whilst he continued packing when his phone beeped again. He grabbed his phone, planning to switch it off so he couldn't hear Tim's incessant texts arriving, but stopped with his finger hovering over the button to turn his phone off when he saw the text alert on his screen.

**1 new message from Blaine**

His heart skipped a beat and he opened the text with trembling fingers.

_Back to good old Ohio tomorrow! What time is your flight? There's a coffee shop I used to go to when I was at Dalton that we should go to when you have time – their coffee is to die for. See you soon, hopefully!_

All his thoughts of and frustration at Tim disappeared from his mind and his face split into a huge smile as he fell back onto his bed and began to type out a reply to Blaine.

* * *

**A/N: **Blaine and Kurt in Ohio whilst Tim is in another state and Jeremy in an - so far - undetermined location? ;)

I always use proper spelling and grammar in my texts so it will be the same in all the texts in this story - I can't bring myself to type in text speak.

Thank you for reading and for all of your reviews! I really appreciate you guys taking the time to give me your thoughts and opinions on this story and my writing :)


	14. Chapter 14

Kurt smiled when Burt turned the car onto their street and the familiar houses and gardens flashed past the windows. He sighed happily when the car slowed and Burt steered into the driveway, his house filling the windscreen. As soon as the car stopped he scrabbled for the door handle and jumped out the car, eager to get back inside his home again. He stood next to the car gazing up at the house whilst he waited impatiently for Carole and Burt to get out of the car. Sure, he loved New York City, loved his apartment, and loved living there, but nothing beat being at home with his family. He knew he would feel different about it in the future when he was married and living in the house he and his husband had bought together, but right now this was still his home.

"You're going to have to come help me with these suitcases, kid. I can't carry them all inside by myself."

Kurt turned and hurried over to where his father was heaving one of his suitcases out the trunk of the car. Taking the case from him, he set it aside and lifted the next one out of the car.

"Why did you have to take so much stuff with you?" Burt grumbled.

Kurt gave him a look and Burt finished helping to take the cases inside without any further complaints.

"It's great to be back here," Kurt proclaimed as he set the last of his cases down by the stairs. "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I'm out of Lima and living in New York, but I miss you guys and just being home whilst I'm there."

Carole pulled him into a hug. "We miss you too, sweetie."

They moved through to the living room and as soon as they had sat down Carole turned to Kurt. "How's Tim?"

"Yes, tell us about this Tim guy," Burt said, watching Kurt closely with slightly narrowed eyes.

The smile slipped from Kurt's face. "You already know about him, I was friends with him for months before we started dating." He cast around for another topic of conversation. "How's the garage going?"

Burt wasn't letting him off the hook that easily. "Yes, but he's your boyfriend now, so it's different."

"How?"

Carole seemed to notice how Kurt had tensed up at the mention of Tim's name and how reluctant he was to talk about him as she tried to change the subject. "How are your classes going? They must be getting more difficult now that you are further into your course."

Gratefully, Kurt went to reply, but Burt spoke again before he got the chance to open his mouth. "You're being safe aren't you?"

Kurt couldn't prevent his face from flushing. "It's not like that, Dad."

Burt eyed him for a moment. "Well, when it does…you know…"

"Right," Kurt said shortly, folding his arms across his chest.

There was a short awkward silence during which Kurt sat stiffly on the couch and frowned off into the distance, Carole watched him with concern, and Burt eyed Kurt a little suspiciously.

Carole finally broke the silence. "Finn told us that your last performance was really good. He said the audience really loved you and that you and Rachel were by far the best in the show."

Kurt smiled, Tim fading from his mind. "Yeah, it went really well! I think that night was one of the best performances I've ever done. I got really great feedback from all my teachers about it as well."

He cheered up as he enthusiastically discussed his classes with his Dad and Carole. His Dad had thankfully dropped the subject of Tim for which Kurt was extremely glad; he wanted to put him to the back of his mind to allow his annoyance at him to fade so that he and Tim could put this rough patch behind them when he was back in New York.

Burt glanced at his watch. "We had better go and get Finn from the airport," he said, getting to his feet.

Kurt stood up as well. "I'll go and unpack, see you guys when you get back." He waved his Dad and Carole out the door before shifting all his suitcases upstairs to his room and starting to unpack.

He had unpacked about a third of his first suitcase when his thoughts suddenly drifted to Blaine. He pulled his phone out the pocket of his jeans and sent Blaine a text saying he was back in Lima and it felt good to be home and seeing his family again. He didn't know if Blaine was home yet, so he wasn't expecting an instant reply and was surprised when he got one.

_Ah good old Ohio, how I missed thee! Westerville is just as boring as I remembered – it is good to see the family again though. Are you missing the fast-paced life in NYC yet?_

Smiling, Kurt sank down onto his bed to reply.

**Not yet, it's kind of nice to get away from it all for a little while. I will quickly miss being able to walk down the street in a fashionable outfit without people staring at me though.**

_Maybe they are staring at you because you look like you have just dropped down from heaven._

Kurt raised an eyebrow at Blaine's latest text, heat creeping across his cheeks. Were they _flirting_ now? He decided to play it safe and ignore the maybe-flirting tone of the message.

**Or maybe they are just surprised that there are things other than t-shirts and flannel to wear.**

It took Blaine a little longer to reply this time and Kurt jiggled his leg, glancing at the screen of his phone every few seconds despite knowing that his phone would beep when he received the reply, as he anxiously awaited the next text. Just when he was starting to think that he should get back to his unpacking, his phone beeped and the screen lit up.

_Or it could be that as well. I know we haven't even been in Ohio a day yet, but when do you think you'll be available for me to show you the best coffee shop in the area?_

Kurt thought for a moment before typing out a response.

**How does Wednesday sound to you? That way our families won't think we are sick of them after only a couple of days and are trying to escape their presence.**

Kurt nodded to himself before sending the text. Today was Saturday, so saying Wednesday meant that he had several days to spend with his family and it didn't show how eager he was to see Blaine again – and he was more eager than he cared to admit to himself.

_Sounds good to me! I was thinking we could meet at around 11am if that's ok with you. Anyway family dinner/interrogation time is about to start so we can work out a time and I'll text you the address of the coffee place later. Talk to you later! :)_

With a smile Kurt set his phone down on the bed and turned back to his suitcases to finish unpacking.

* * *

Kurt had forgotten how much he missed family dinners where he, Burt, Carole, and Finn discussed their days and any exciting news whilst they ate a delicious meal cooked by Carole and himself. Although he had been back home for Christmas, there had been weeks of him eating alone or with Rachel since then and that had become what he was used to, so it felt a little strange to be sitting at a table with his family again – a good strange though.

Finn had just finished telling a story about getting lost in the middle of taking Rachel to a restaurant one night and there was a lull in the conversation. In the middle of piling more mashed potatoes onto his plate, Finn turned to Kurt. "Rachel told me you and Tim are having some problems."

Burt whipped his head up from facing his plate to look at Kurt. "_What?_ You didn't mention that earlier. What kind of problems?"

Kurt glared across the table at Finn who frowned and mouthed '_what?_'

"It's nothing really," Kurt said through gritted teeth, his hand clenching his fork, "just a small rough patch."

Finn didn't seem to have picked up on how much Kurt did not want to discuss this. "Rachel said you are pretty pissed at him."

Kurt closed his eyes, exhaling deeply to try and stop himself from yelling at Finn.

"He's not treating you badly, is he? Is he cheating on you? Trying to force you to do something you don't want to do?" Burt asked, sounding angrier with each question.

Opening his eyes, Kurt shot daggers at Finn with his eyes causing him to recoil back away from the table so he was as far from Kurt as he could get without leaving his seat.

Knowing he wouldn't be allowed to leave the table until he told his Dad what was going on with Tim, he told them. "Tim has just been whining a lot lately and it is really getting on my nerves." He avoided the eyes of everyone at the table as he spoke.

"What about?" Burt asked and Kurt could feel the almost physical weight of his eyes on him.

He stabbed at the food on his plate with his fork. "That he's not getting to see me at all these holidays because I'm spending them here."

"Surely he understands why you want to spend the holidays with your family?" Carole asked gently.

"I thought he did, but obviously not," he replied bitterly.

"I don't like the sound of this Tim," Burt muttered, his voice carrying clearly through the silence around the table.

Kurt let his fork fall to his plate with a loud clatter. "It's just a little rough patch; Tim is not a bad guy. Now can we _please_ talk about something else?"

His Dad and Finn continued to stare at him until Carole asked Finn how much sport he was getting to see in New York and Kurt's relationship was forgotten for the present. He sighed in relief, dropping his gaze to his plate and picking his fork back up again to resume pushing the last of his food around his plate.

* * *

The dark stormy grey clouds that had been hovering ominously over the outskirts of Westerville earlier in the morning had disappeared without dropping any of the rain they had been threatening and now the sky was a clear, bright blue. Blaine tossed the sweater he had been wearing over his short-sleeved shirt into his car, locked the doors and then headed down the street towards the coffee shop he had visited regularly during his time at Dalton. Just as the small café came into view he spotted Kurt a few shops down from the café, walking up the street towards him; he was glancing up at each shop as he passed them and didn't see Blaine. His hair was swept up in its usual style and he was wearing his customary tight jeans paired with a striped sweater and boots. Blaine felt his heart skip and his stomach give a small squeeze at the sight of him, these organ acrobats only intensifying when Kurt's gaze landed on him and he smiled causing an answering smile to spread across Blaine's face automatically.

"Hey, Blaine!" Kurt greeted him once Blaine had hurried forward to meet Kurt outside the coffee shop.

"Hi," Blaine said, suddenly feeling a little nervous – this felt a lot like they were going on their first date. He shook that thought from his mind. "How's Lima treating you?"

"Good, it has been nice to spend time with my family and catch-up on everything I missed whilst in New York. How's your family?"

Blaine held open the door of the coffee shop for Kurt before following him inside. "Everyone's fine, nothing has really changed much since I was last home at Christmas."

They reached the counter and Blaine glanced over at Kurt. "What do you want?" He pulled his wallet out of his pocket.

Kurt shook his head at him. "You're _not_ paying for me."

"I invited you here, so I'll buy your coffee," he insisted, pushing Kurt gently away from the counter. "Now, what do you want?"

"Grande non-fat mocha," Kurt said, giving in. "Thanks."

Blaine smiled at him. "You're very welcome."

Once they got their coffees Blaine led the way over to a table by the window at the far corner of the café. "This is the table I always sat at with my friends from Dalton," he said as they sat down.

"Did you like Dalton? I know some people get sent to private schools by their parents but they don't really enjoy going to them." Kurt took a sip of his coffee and his eyes widened. "Wow, this coffee is _really good_."

Blaine grinned at him as he stirred his coffee. "I told you it was." He set the coffee stirrer aside. "And to answer your question, yes, I did like going to Dalton – I loved it there, actually. I made a lot of great friends who I know I'll be friends with for life and I loved being a member of the Warblers." He paused, wrapping his hands around his coffee. "My parents didn't make me go to Dalton per se, I transferred there after the bullying I was being subjected to at my previous high school became too much. My parents didn't think I was safe at that school anymore and I couldn't take the bullying anymore, so I moved to a school where we knew I wouldn't be bullied."

Kurt was watching him intently with his hand holding his coffee frozen half-way to his mouth. "Why were you being bullied so badly?"

Blaine raised his eyes to meet Kurt's curious blue ones and Kurt faltered.

"Sorry," he said, setting his coffee down. "You don't have to tell me."

Blaine shook his head, sitting up straighter in his chair. "No, it's ok. I was being bullied because of my sexuality, because I'm gay."

"Oh," Kurt said in a small voice. "Well, I don't blame you for transferring; I know _exactly _how badly some homophobic people can treat you in high school for being gay."

"Is that why your parents looked into transferring you to Dalton, because-"

"Because I was being shoved into lockers, got abuse shouted at me, slushies tossed in my face, and other forms of torment each day all because I like boys instead of girls? Yes," Kurt said bitterly.

Blaine bit his lip. "And you stayed at – McKinley, was it? – until you graduated?"

Kurt nodded. "The guy who was my main tormentor transferred to another school in my junior year and things got better after that."

Blaine stayed silent for a moment, staring at Kurt in a way that was probably making him uncomfortable, but he couldn't help it. His heart was thumping erratically in his chest, the blood singing in his veins, and his head was telling him _something._ "I wish I could have been as brave as you and just stuck it out at my school, showed the bullies that they couldn't get to me, that I was proud of whom I was and nothing they said or did could change that. But instead I ran away from them to another school."

Kurt reached across the table and placed his hand over Blaine's, giving it a light squeeze. "You did the right thing by transferring and I would have changed schools if my parents could have afforded to send me to somewhere like Dalton where I would never be bullied. And you _are_ brave, Blaine you didn't run back into the closet after the bullying like some people do, you were brave enough to come out and be proud of who you are in the first place. Not many people do that, Blaine."

Kurt smiled softly at him and Blaine returned the smile, feeling almost dizzy from the rush of blood through his head. After giving his hand one last squeeze, Kurt drew his hand back and Blaine tried not to show his disappointment at the loss of contact.

"Tell me more about Blaine Anderson, with our months of observing each other from afar I feel like I've known you for ages but I don't _know you_," Kurt said, taking another drink of his coffee.

Blaine grinned at him. "Only if you tell me more about Kurt-?" He broke off and looked questioningly at Kurt.

"Hummel," Kurt told him.

"Kurt Hummel," Blaine repeated.

Kurt shifted his chair closer to the table. "Deal," he said with a smile. "Do you play any sports?"

Blaine took a quick sip of his coffee before answering Kurt's questions happily, ecstatic that he was finally going to get to know Kurt better, the person that, until a little over a week ago, he'd been watching on the subway and wishing he could meet.

* * *

**A/N: **Yay for Klaine in Ohio!

In case anyone was wondering, Finn took a later flight than Kurt as Rachel booked tickets for both herself and Finn and got caught up in NYADA stuff and was too late to get tickets for the same flight as Kurt.

Just in case it wasn't clear, for this story Kurt's texts will always be in bold and Blaine's texts will be in italics.

I've been debating whether or not to post my stories on Scarves & Coffee as well as on here… Not sure yet.

Thanks for reading and for all the reviews! :)

Next chapter on Saturday!


	15. Chapter 15

Sighing happily, Blaine stretched out on his back on his bed, replaying memories from the coffee shop that morning in his head. He had been distracted all through dinner because of it, but his parents didn't think anything of it, they were used to him writing lyrics or playing the compositions he was working on in his head whilst he ate. His phone suddenly started ringing causing him to jump before fishing around amongst the bedding for it. Without looking at the caller I.D. he pressed the button to accept the call and held the phone up to his ear. "Hello?"

"Hey, Blaine how's everything in Ohio?"

"Jeremy!" Blaine shot upright so he was no longer lying back against the pillows. "Hey! Everything is good here, it's great to see the family again and to eat home-cooked food that I didn't have to make but that isn't one of Nick's culinary disasters."

Jeremy's familiar laugh bubbled through the phone.

"How's California?" Blaine shifted into a more comfortable position on the bed.

"Same as always, nothing's changed much. It's nice catching up with all my friends from high school though."

"All my friends from school are out of state except for one, so I'm spending most of my time with my parents, but I don't mind."

"What about Cooper? Is he home?" Jeremy asked.

Blaine automatically shook his head even though he knew Jeremy couldn't see him. "No, he's still working."

As he and Jeremy continued to talk about their holidays he realised that he wasn't at all bothered by the fact that he wasn't going to see his boyfriend at all during them – shouldn't he be disappointed that he wasn't getting to spend time with him? Their differing schedules at college meant that they didn't have that much time together in New York either, so shouldn't Blaine have wanted to try and see him as often as he could? He pushed these thoughts aside; Jeremy didn't appear bothered by it so he shouldn't be either.

"I'd better go," Jeremy said, breaking Blaine out of his thoughts. "We should meet up for coffee once we are both back in New York."

"Yeah, definitely. Have a great time in California!"

"Enjoy Ohio, talk to you later!"

Blaine said goodbye and hung up, still feeling a little bit unsettled from the conversation. He jumped again when his phone vibrated in his hand.

**Thanks again for the coffee today! I'll have to buy you coffee sometime so that we are even. There is a place in Lima that I went to a lot when I was in high school – the coffee isn't as good as what we had today, but it's still pretty good.**

His weird, unsettling conversation with Jeremy forgotten, Blaine eagerly typed out a reply to Kurt with quivering fingers.

_Sounds good! When are you free? I can manage pretty much any time._

**Friday afternoon around 3 is good with me, if that works for you.**

_That works for me :) See you then!_

**Great! I'll see you Friday at the Lima Bean :)**

Blaine felt a rush of excited anticipation as he smiled down at Kurt's last text and he all but skipped over to where his guitar sat in the corner of his room, ignoring Nick's voice when it sprung up suddenly in his head asking where this was going with Kurt. He and Kurt were just friends and friends did things like meeting up for coffee. It was harmless.

* * *

His phone buzzed with a new text and Kurt hit the button to open it as soon as the message appeared on the screen. A laugh bubbled out of him as he read the text and he placed a hand over his mouth to try and muffle the sound, but he felt two pairs of eyes snap over to him and he knew they had heard.

"Have you and Tim made up then?" Finn asked.

"No," Kurt replied distractedly as he typed out a reply to the text, a grin on his face as he did so.

"Who have you been texting all evening then?" Rachel's voice was laden with curiosity and just a hint of suspicion. "It doesn't look like it is Mercedes or any of the other girls."

Kurt shrugged, hoping the dim light of the living room would hide his blush and guilty expression. "Just a friend."

"It's not that Blaine guy is it?" Rachel's voice took on a different tone, one that Kurt couldn't quite decipher.

"Who?" Finn sounded puzzled.

Kurt felt his cheeks heat up more as his blush deepened and he slid further down in his armchair, drawing his legs up and hoping that was sufficient to hide his red face from Finn and Rachel. His phone buzzed again, the sound loud in the now silent room.

Rachel took Kurt's silence as a yes. "I thought you said you were just friends."

"We _are_," Kurt said, thumbs almost a blur as he replied to Blaine's text.

Finn sat up straight. "Wait, is Blaine who you were out with earlier?"

"_You went out with him?_" Rachel said loudly before Kurt had a chance to speak. "Where?"

"Just for coffee in Westerville," he replied nonchalantly.

Rachel continued to stare at him, looking a little stunned. "So he lives here?"

Kurt nodded, biting his lip in an effort to try and hide his smile as he read Blaine's latest text.

Finn was still confused. "Who _is_ this Blaine? And how come you know him as well?" he directed his last question at Rachel, who ignored him.

"Are you seeing him again?"

Kurt nodded again. "We're going for coffee in the Lima Bean on Friday."

Rachel's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Don't even think about it, Rachel," Kurt warned her, not liking the scheming look on Rachel's face one bit.

* * *

Kurt took his time getting dressed and styling his hair on Friday – sure, it might not be a date, but he still wanted to look his best. When he left the house after calling out a goodbye to Carole, he noticed Finn sitting in the living room reading the morning newspaper. He eyed his step-brother suspiciously as he let himself out the front door, but Finn just stared intently at the paper and ignored him.

Finn's strange behaviour flew out of his mind as Kurt neared the Lima Bean. The familiar streets and shops brought a smile to his face as he remembered the amount of hours he had spent in the Lima Bean with his high school friends discussing set lists, studying, or just catching up on the latest gossip. Though he had a regular coffee shop in New York now, there was something about the Lima Bean that would always be that little bit special for him.

A quick glance around the coffee shop as he walked through the doors showed him that he had arrived before Blaine. As he remembered Blaine's coffee order he made a bee-line for the counter and ordered their coffees. He had just paid for them and was about to go and hunt down a table when Blaine appeared at his side.

Kurt grinned at him, his stomach fluttering. "I remembered your order, so I bought your coffee – medium drip, right?"

Blaine looked slightly stunned for a moment, and then he smiled. "Taking no chances that I would buy the coffee again?"

"Nope." Kurt wound through the tables, leading the way over to an unoccupied table towards the far end of the café.

Blaine looked around the café with interest as he sat down opposite Kurt. "So this is where teenage Kurt hung out."

Kurt surveyed his surroundings as well, a fond smile on his face at the memories the Lima Bean triggered. "I used to come here at least twice a week with my friends. We would spend hours talking about Glee club or musicals or the latest relationship dramas of the people in our Glee club." He looked back at Blaine, feeling the other man's eyes on him. "I have a lot of good memories of here."

They started discussing the transition between going from living in Ohio to living in New York City and Kurt was once again reminded of how easy it was to be around Blaine. There were never any awkward silences where neither could think of anything to say, he never felt uncomfortable around him, it just felt natural, like breathing.

Kurt's phone buzzed in his pocket and he pulled it out without breaking his gaze on Blaine as he recounted a funny story about his first days in New York, thinking that the text was probably Rachel saying something ridiculous about him being out with Blaine. When he had finished laughing at Blaine's story he checked his phone – it wasn't from Rachel. He scanned the text quickly before snorting and rolling his eyes, returning the phone to his pocket without replying.

"Parents checking up on you?" Blaine asked mildly.

Kurt shook his head. "It was from my…boyfriend, actually. He is being a bit of an ass right now."

Blaine dropped his eyes down to his coffee, tracing a circle around the lid of his cup. "Your boyfriend the guy who was at Bar4 that night?"

Kurt nodded slowly. "Yeah, that's Tim."

"How long have you two been together?" Blaine was still avoiding Kurt's eyes, seemingly completely engrossed with his coffee.

Kurt frowned slightly as he counted back through the weeks. "Around a month."

Blaine looked up at him then, his large hazel eyes betraying a hint of surprise. "Did you two meet at college?" he asked, managing to quickly mask his surprise.

Kurt nodded. "After a performance last year, we were friends for a while before we started dating." Not particularly wanting to discuss Tim, he cast around for another topic of conversation. "Are you dating anyone?" he asked, blurting out the first thing that came to mind.

As soon as the question was out of his mouth he wanted to groan and slap a hand to his face – seeing Blaine happily chat about the boyfriend Kurt knew he was bound to have was the last thing he wanted.

Blaine didn't look particularly happy about the question either. "Yeah, his name is Jeremy; we've been together for almost nine months."

Kurt struggled to keep his face from falling at the news that Blaine had a long-term boyfriend, that he was in-love with this Jeremy guy, because couples who had been together _that_ long were in-love – you didn't date someone for that long if you didn't love them.

He kept a smiling mask fixed to his face. "Aww, that's great. How did you meet?"

"He went to high school with my friend Scott. I met Scott in my first days of college and I met Jeremy through him not long afterwards," he said with a small smile. "We were friends first, like you and Tim."

There was a short pause during which Kurt struggled to keep a smile on his face as his mind tortured him with the image of Blaine looking lovingly at some faceless, but attractive, guy.

After adjusting the striped bowtie he was wearing, Blaine asked Kurt about his next performance at NYADA and conversation flowed easily again until a few hours later when Blaine checked his watch and sighed. "I'd better get going or else I won't make it back home in time for dinner."

Kurt glanced at the time displayed on the screen of his cell phone. "Yeah, I should be getting home too. I have to help my step-mom make dinner."

They gathered their things together and stood up, exiting the Lima Bean through the doors near the counter and heading down the street to the small parking lot nearby. Kurt walked Blaine to his car, smiling when Blaine turned to face him.

"I guess I'll see you around New York some time."

"We can still meet up for coffee and stuff there," Kurt suggested hopefully.

Blaine's smile widened, his eyes crinkling up at the corners. "I'd like that." He stared at Kurt for a moment, his eyes hesitant, before stepping forward and wrapping his arms around him. For a split second Kurt was rigid with surprise, and then he relaxed, wrapping his arms around Blaine and returning the embrace, smiling as he breathed in Blaine's scent.

"I'll text you," Kurt mumbled.

They held on to each other for a little longer, both reluctant to let go, before eventually stepping back. They held each other's gaze, Kurt staring into the pools of honey threaded with browns and greens with his heart racing.

"Bye, Kurt," Blaine said softly, turning to his car.

"Bye," Kurt smiled at him as the other man got into his car.

Fumbling in his pocket for his car keys, he made his way over to where his own car was parked, waving at Blaine when he drove past him on his way out of the parking lot. He was almost at his car when Rachel suddenly jumped out in front of him, appearing from nowhere with Finn behind her.

"I _knew it_!" she exclaimed, pointing an accusatory finger at Kurt.

"I thought you were never going to leave," Finn grumbled.

Kurt glared at the pair of them. "You were spying on us?" He didn't know why he made it a question, he knew they had been.

Finn looked a little ashamed of himself, but Rachel didn't appear to think anything of invading Kurt's privacy. "Finn let me know when you left the house and we hid in a corner of the Lima Bean and watched you."

Now over his shock at Finn and Rachel's sudden appearance, he pushed past them to get to his car. "Don't know how I managed to miss Finn with him being oversized."

"You were too busy making heart eyes at Blaine," Rachel said, somewhat triumphantly.

Unlocking the door of his car, he began rummaging aimlessly through a small pile of sheet music on the passenger seat to try and hide the blush staining his cheeks.

Rachel leant against the side of his car whilst Finn hovered awkwardly behind her. "I have to say though, Kurt your little boy-toy is very attractive."

Kurt straightened up and shot Rachel another glare. "I am not cheating on Tim, Rachel, Blaine and I are just friends."

Rachel raised her eyebrows. "That was an awful long hug for _'just friends'_," she said, making quote marks with her fingers.

Finn spoke up nervously. "Yeah, guys who are friends don't normally-" he quelled under the look Kurt shot at him.

"Blaine and I are _friends_," Kurt told them firmly, "nothing more. I wouldn't ever cheat on Tim, even if our relationship is on the rocks right now and I'm not sure how much longer it will last, clear?"

Rachel blinked at him. "What do you mean you're not sure how much longer it will last? Are you thinking of breaking up with Tim?"

Kurt froze in the middle of opening the driver's side door of his car and stared at his friend with wide eyes. "Just like I said," he replied in a low voice, before getting into the car. "I have to get home and help Carole." He pulled his door shut and drove away, ignoring Finn and Rachel's staring faces.

* * *

**A/N: **I listened to 'Falling In Love At a Coffee Shop' by Landon Pigg whilst writing this chapter, it's a great Klaine song.

I'm thinking of getting a beta for my next story as I want to try and up the game with my writing, so if you're reading this and you would be interested in being a beta reader for my next story then let me know :)

Thanks for reading and for all of your reviews! I can't believe how many hits this story is getting, whenever I look at the traffic stats I almost cry.

Next chapter will be posted on Wednesday :)


	16. Chapter 16

All around him his classmates were enthusiastically playing through a piece of music they had been given. Next to him, Scott tapped his foot in time to the beat as he played, but Blaine couldn't get into the music as much as he usually did. He felt separate from the other people in the room, as if he were surrounded by a transparent bubble where he could still see his surroundings, but was physically and emotionally separated from them. He couldn't stop thinking about Jeremy. They had arranged to meet up for coffee today after their classes were over and during the phone call in which they had organised this Blaine had noticed that same undercurrent that had been present whenever he was around or talking to Jeremy for the last few weeks. Something was off about their relationship now, something he couldn't quite put his finger on, and he couldn't stop thinking about it.

He noticed Scott shooting him a concerned look a few times, obviously noticing his lack of attention and enthusiasm, but he never got the chance to question him about it, for which Blaine was grateful – he wanted to be alone with his thoughts just now as he tried to sort things out inside his head.

As soon as class ended he put his guitar in his case and rushed out the door before Scott got the chance to ask him why he had been so quiet and preoccupied. Once the building his class had been in was out of sight he slowed his marching pace and walked slowly through the campus, lost in thought.

It was a warm day with the first hints of summer in the air and lots of students were milling around outside enjoying the sunny weather. Blaine was so deep in his own head that he almost bumped into several people, only avoiding an actual collision because the other person noticed him at the last second and jumped out of his way, shooting him a disgruntled look as they did so which Blaine's unfocused eyes didn't see.

He reached the familiar coffee shop – the site of many of his dates with Jeremy – to find Jeremy already sitting at their usual table with two coffees in front of him. He appeared to be deep in thought, his brow furrowed slightly and his green eyes glassy and he didn't even notice Blaine's presence until Blaine pulled out the chair opposite him and sat down.

He blinked at him, giving his head a small shake and sitting back in his chair. "Oh, hey, Blaine." He leant across the table and, after a barely imperceptible pause, brushed a kiss on Blaine's cheek. When he sat back he looked thoughtful and a little nervous and Blaine smiled at him to try and ease the strange tension that had settled over the table.

"How was your day?"

Jeremy shrugged, smiling. "Same old, same old. Yours?"

"It was alright."

There was a pause during which Blaine took a sip of his coffee and Jeremy fidgeted with his coffee cup.

Suddenly, Jeremy sighed. "It's different now, isn't it? Something has changed."

Blaine raised his eyes to meet his boyfriend's, puzzled, though he had an inkling of where this was heading.

Jeremy looked worried. "It's like-" He waved his hands to indicate Blaine, himself, them sitting drinking coffee together at that small table. "It's like we are friends, good friends meeting up for coffee. It feels like we are just _friends_. I don't know when it became like this, but I really only started to notice it during Spring Break." Jeremy bit his lip, looking apprehensive about Blaine's reaction to this.

It all suddenly clicked together in Blaine's head what had felt so off about their relationship. They had lost the spark that had ignited a short while before they started dating. Over the last few weeks it had faded, fizzling out until not even a faint glow was present. Now they were just good friends, nothing more. He was relieved that Jeremy felt the same way, that it wasn't just him who had noticed this – he didn't think he could break-up with Jeremy if he still loved him, he couldn't have hurt Jeremy that way.

He nodded slowly. "Yeah, it's just not _there_ anymore. I started noticing it last week as well."

The same sense of relief that Blaine was experiencing was clear on Jeremy's face. "We're ok though, aren't we? Even though we aren't together anymore I don't want to have to cut you out of my life, I love having you as a friend and I'd hate to lose that."

Blaine smiled at him, feeling almost dizzy with relief. "Me too, I'd really hate for us to be like some other ex-couples who avoid each other and it's awkward being in a room together, especially as we share friends, I would hate to ruin what they have as well. So, we are good."

Jeremy got up and moved around the table just as Blaine stood up and they hugged, Blaine smiling as he wrapped his arms around his friend. It felt just like he was hugging Nick or Scott, there was no longer that sense that something wasn't right. Now that they had both realised that their relationship just wasn't working anymore, that they no longer felt the way they used to towards each other, there was no longer that strange undercurrent when they were together, being together was easy again.

* * *

Sliding his key into the door, Blaine let himself into his apartment feeling lighter now that a load was off his mind. He whistled happily as he dumped his keys on the small table by the door and strolled into the living area where Nick was sitting with his laptop balanced on his knees. He looked a little taken aback as he took in Blaine's cheery demeanour.

"Good day?" he asked, his laptop momentarily forgotten as he watched Blaine sit down on the couch. "You've been awful quiet and reserved these last few days, it's nice to see you back to your usual smiling self."

"Jeremy and I broke up today," Blaine stated simply.

Nick looked dumbfounded and stared at him for a long moment with his mouth hanging open slightly. "You did? Why? I thought everything was fine between you two."

"It was a mutual split," he told Nick, who still looked shocked by his announcement. "What we used to feel for each other wasn't there anymore, so we're just friends now."

Nick continued to stare at him, looking flabbergasted until he seemed to suddenly think of something and his mouth closed as he pushed his laptop aside. "This hasn't got anything to do with Kurt, has it?"

Blaine blinked. "What? No, we both felt that our relationship wasn't working anymore, that it was like two friends hanging out whenever we were together; it has absolutely nothing to do with Kurt. Do you honestly think I would break-up with Jeremy to run off with somebody else?" He said all of this without anger; he could see why Nick had thought that.

"No, I'm sorry, I wasn't really thinking straight. I just-" He paused. "Are you sure you're ok with this? I mean you were together for nine months, that's a long time."

"I'm fine, it wasn't something that happened all of a sudden and came as a shock, it had been dawning on me – on both of us – for a few weeks now. It didn't really feel right being in a relationship with Jeremy this last week or so, but being his friend, _that_ feels right and Jeremy feels the same way."

Nick's eyes searched his for a moment and he could tell he was still waiting for his façade of being fine with the break-up to drop, but when it didn't he smiled at him. "I'm glad you two are still friends and that you are both happier with that."

"Me too, I would have hated to lose Jeremy as a friend," he smiled at Nick.

* * *

Kurt toyed unenthusiastically with his chicken, his eyes downcast to avoid Rachel's questioning gaze from across the table. Despite spending over an hour cooking the meal, the thought of eating it didn't appeal to him in the slightest, he had just made the complicated dish to keep himself busy and his mind occupied. He ran his fork through the sauce, drawing an abstract pattern in it like he was five years old again and playing with his food rather than eating it.

At the opposite side of the table, Rachel cleared her throat. "I ran into Tim today, he didn't seem very happy. He said you two still haven't worked things out."

"No, we haven't," Kurt said without looking up from the sun he was drawing in his sauce. Rachel continued to stare at him though, waiting for him to elaborate. He sighed. "I tried to fix things and put our argument behind us the day I got back from Ohio, but we ended up arguing more. He didn't think he had done anything wrong and told me my behaviour was completely unjustified." He sighed heavily, still avoiding the eyes fixed intently on him. "I fought back and we ended up throwing insults at each other and arguing about petty things." He paused and he could sense Rachel's eagerness to hear the rest. "Then I screamed at him that he was a selfish, conceited bastard and stormed out."

Finally abandoning his food, he set his cutlery down his plate and slowly raised his eyes to look at Rachel. They stared at each other for a moment and then Rachel's face softened into lines of sympathy.

"Oh, Kurt," she said softly and it was the tone of her voice and the expression on her face that did it, that finally cracked the hard mask he had worn since the fight with Tim and he crumpled.

"I don't understand where it went so wrong," he said in a shaking voice as tears welled up. He pressed shaking fingers to his trembling lips in an effort to control himself.

"Kurt…" Rachel got up from her chair and slid into the one next to Kurt, shifting until their chairs clunked together, and then wrapping an arm around his shoulders. He let himself fall against her, this act of comfort causing the tears to fall and a sob to choke out.

"Why do my relationships always end like this?" he asked miserably several minutes later when his tears were starting to dry up. "First there was Alex – though I know that was my fault, I should have listened to you when you told me he was a dick instead of just rashly throwing myself into dating him – and now Tim who I thought was different from Alex, but I guess not."

Rachel rubbed his back soothingly. "What happened with Alex wasn't your fault. Sure, you really should have listened to me, but it wasn't your fault that he was a cheating, using asshole. I thought Tim was different as well, I thought he was good for you and that you were great together." She sighed. "I was wrong as well."

They sat in silence for a while, Kurt feeling better after crying and telling Rachel what had happened and then the buzzer sounded, making them both jump.

"I'll get it." Rachel patted Kurt's shoulder before going to answer leaving Kurt sitting at the table feeling drained.

The buzzer went again, sounding for a second before Rachel presumably answered it, but then a few seconds later it went off again.

Frowning, Kurt got up and walked through to the living area where Rachel stood near the front door by the intercom.

"…leave it, ok?" she was saying, sounding angry.

"What's going on?" Kurt asked, pausing a few feet away from Rachel. "Who's at the door?"

Rachel whirled to face him, looking agitated. "It's nobody, just- just-"

The buzzer went again and Kurt darted forwards to answer before Rachel could. "Hello?"

"Kurt," a voice said, sounding relieved and distressed – Tim's voice. "Can I come in, please? I need to explain. I need to see you – _please_."

Rachel was shaking her head frantically, but Kurt found himself pushing the button to let him into the building.

"_Kurt!_" Rachel slapped his hand away from the button, despite it being too late. "What are you _doing_? You can't seriously think there is a reasonable explanation for his behaviour. You can't be thinking of forgiving him!" She tugged on his arm as he moved to unlock the door after there was a hesitant knock on it. "Kurt!"

He shook her off, unlocked the door and pulled it open.

Tim stood uncomfortably on the other side, his eyes red rimmed and his hair a mess. Without saying anything, Kurt stood aside to let him in.

"Thank you," he mumbled, his voice rough.

Rachel glared at Tim as he walked in, everything from her glare to her posture screaming hostility. Kurt shot her a pointed look as he passed her and she huffed out a breath, moving into the kitchen to clear the table.

Taking a shuddering breath, Kurt turned to face Tim who was hovering uncomfortably in the middle of the room, his arms crossed over his chest, his hands clutching his elbows, and his shoulders hunched.

"You can sit down," Kurt told him.

Tim winced slightly when Kurt opened his mouth as if he expected Kurt to start screaming at him again, but he nodded stiffly and sat down gingerly on the edge of the armchair. Kurt took a seat on the couch and they faced each other in silence for a moment. There was silence in the kitchen as well and Kurt knew Rachel was standing frozen in there, straining to hear everything that happened.

"I'm sorry," Tim whispered brokenly, "I don't know what came over me. I was disappointed that we weren't going to be able to spend any time together over Spring Break, but I understood why you wanted to go home." He rubbed his hands over his jeans. "Then a girl in one of my classes overheard me telling one of my friends about our Spring Break plans and she laughed that I had actually bought your story and said it was the oldest trick in the book for when you want to start distancing yourself, when you weren't interested anymore and wanted to end things. She said you probably weren't into me anymore and that I should prepare myself for a break-up. Though I didn't believe her, what she said stuck in my head and I found myself replaying her words over and over. So I panicked and started sending you those texts moaning about you leaving and begging you to stay. When you started getting annoyed and began ignoring me I snapped."

Kurt was frozen in his seat as he stared at Tim. Part of his brain was telling him that this was no excuse for the things he had said and that he should finish it with Tim before he got another chance to hurt him again. The other part of his brain was beginning to understand why Tim did what he did and understood that Kurt wasn't completely innocent himself – he had said and done some things that had made it worse, he was just as guilty. And Kurt still really liked Tim, even now as he sat and told Kurt why he had been such a dickhead and tried to beg Kurt for forgiveness.

"I know I don't deserve forgiveness and you have every right to kick me out now and never want to see me again, but I am truly sorry and-" He paused, closing his eyes. "I want to give our relationship another go. I really like you, Kurt and I screwed up badly and I'm _so sorry_." His shoulders slumped in defeat.

Kurt watched him for a moment, both sides of his mind battling it out. "Ok," he whispered.

Tim's head jerked up, his eyes snapping open. "Wh- what?"

"Ok," Kurt repeated, "we can give it another try." His brain felt detached from his mouth as he spoke, his mind focused on something else, on other memories.

"Kurt…" Tim stood up.

Kurt was still focused on other thoughts rather than what was happening in front of him. "It won't be like it was before, but we can take things slowly and see how it goes."

"Yes, that would be best, and Kurt-"

Kurt shook his head at him, coming out of his thoughts and finally managing a half-smile. "It's ok, really." He stood up. "I'm going to get a drink, do you want anything?"

Tim returned his smile with a larger one of his own. "Water, thanks."

The second he stepped foot in the kitchen Rachel grabbed hold of his shirt and yanked him further away from the entrance to the living room. "What the hell are you _doing?_ What are you thinking giving him a second chance, are you out of your mind?"

He prised Rachel's fingers from his shirt and smoothed the wrinkled material out. "I still really like him, Rachel isn't that reason enough?"

She took a step back from him, eyes widening slightly as her expression changed from disbelief and anger to something else. "No, that's not it," she said slowly.

Kurt frowned at her. "What?"

"What you said earlier, just before Tim arrived, that's what this is about." She pointed in the direction of the living room. "You're giving Tim another chance because you are worried that you'll never be able to have a relationship that doesn't go wrong and end with you alone and in tears, and because Tim is better than Alex and is actually apologising and trying to fix things, you're staying with him." She shook her head at him as he stared at her. "I know you went through high school and came out here feeling lonely and you don't want to go back to that or to only dating guys like Alex so you're settling for Tim, but you won't get love this way, Kurt you'll only feel worse." The corners of her mouth tugged up in a small smile. "The crazy thing is that love has been right in front of you for weeks now, but you have been too oblivious to see it." Her voice dropped to a whisper and Kurt was startled by the emotion in it. "If you want love and happiness, Kurt then it's Blaine you should be looking to, not Tim."

* * *

**A/N: **Oh, Kurt just wake-up and realise you and Blaine are meant to be together.

Most of the time when I'm watching Glee I want to throw something in Rachel Berry's face, but I really like writing her – it's weird.

Thank you for reading and for all the reviews and favourites! :)


	17. Chapter 17

"See you tomorrow!" Blaine clapped Scott on the shoulder and went to hurry out of the lecture theatre.

Scoot looked up, startled. "Wait, where are you going?" he called after Blaine who was standing a few steps down from where they had been sitting. Blaine paused and spun to face Scott. "I thought we could go get coffee or something."

Blaine shook his head, bouncing on the spot a little as he grinned at his friend. "Can't, I'm meeting someone." He turned and continued on down the steps to the door leading out of the theatre.

"Who?" Scott called after him. "Blaine, who are you meeting?" He raised his voice so he could be heard over the sounds of their classmates preparing to leave.

Blaine just laughed and didn't answer, waving at Scott over his shoulder without turning around, before pushing the doors open and hurrying out of the building.

As he made his way across campus he couldn't help but compare how different he had been and felt when he had been going to meet Jeremy for coffee last week to how he felt today. Instead of walking slowly, dragging his feet with his eyes downcast, and his shoulder slumped; he was walking briskly and jauntily with his head up and a smile on his face. He couldn't wait to get to the café, whereas last week he had dreaded arriving and had wished time would slow down or even stop so that he wouldn't have to see Jeremy and face up to the problems in their relationship.

He had been in such a good mood these past few days that he was surprised his muscles didn't hurt from smiling and laughing so much. Things were good between him and Jeremy, better than they had been when they were dating. They had passed the slightly awkward first meeting since their split where they had eyed each other uncertainly when they had gone to greet each other, unsure of what to do, until Jeremy had shrugged and laughed, pulling Blaine into a hug and effectively erasing all tension and after that it was just like being around a friend – and now he was on his way to see Kurt.

He and Kurt had agreed to meet for coffee one morning on the subway and Blaine hadn't been able to think of much else since. Nick had noticed his change in mood and had rolled his eyes, calling him blind and oblivious, which Blaine had ignored.

His smile grew wider as he pushed open the door to the coffee shop in which he had spent many an hour with Nick and Scott and spotted Kurt sitting at a table with two coffees in front of him.

"You bought my coffee last time, it was supposed to be my turn," Blaine said as Kurt pushed a coffee towards him once he had sat down.

Kurt just flashed him one of his beautiful smiles. "You should have gotten here quicker then."

"It's Scott's fault," Blaine said, pulling the lid off his coffee. "He held me back asking dumb questions about where I was going."

"What did you tell him?"

Blaine smiled mischievously. "I said I was meeting a beautiful young man for an afternoon of delight." He winked at Kurt.

Kurt choked on his coffee. "_You didn't?_" His face was turning red.

Blaine shook his head, laughing at the expression on Kurt's face. "No, I just said I was meeting someone."

As Kurt rolled his eyes at him, a smile on his face as he took another sip of his coffee and the colour slowly fading from his cheeks, Blaine had that familiar feeling again that he was missing something, that there was something almost within reach in front of him. It was the same feeling he got sitting down in front of his piano trying to write lyrics to that piece of music he had been struggling with for months – it nagged at him constantly these days.

He couldn't remember the last time he had enjoyed himself so much having coffee. Now that he and Kurt knew each other better, they were joking around more, playfully teasing each other, and creating inside jokes. They were getting to know the smaller, finer details about each other now rather than just the basic things like favourite books and music. Blaine loved learning these things about Kurt, loved discovering the little things like how he had once taken his Dad's credit card to buy a designer scarf online and had managed to get away with it until over five months later, and how he had had a crush on Taylor Lautner as a teenager.

They stayed at the coffee shop for hours, a lot longer than Blaine realised, and it wasn't until Rachel texted Kurt asking him if he would be home for dinner that they both realised how late it was.

"I should probably get home," Kurt sighed, sending Rachel a quick reply.

Blaine got to his feet. "Yeah, I should too, actually. Nick will probably be wondering where I am, I said I would cook dinner tonight."

They walked out of the café together and Kurt suddenly slapped a hand to his forehead. "Oh, we'll be taking the same train home. For some reason I forgot we live near each other in New York as well."

Blaine had forgotten this as well and his mood peaked again at being able to spend more time with Kurt. When they got off the subway and went to go their separate ways, Kurt stepped forward and hugged him and Blaine resisted the urge to nuzzle against Kurt's neck, contenting himself with holding him maybe a little tighter than he would normally hug his other friends and breathing in Kurt's scent.

"We should do this again soon," Kurt said when they had let go of each other. "I'll see you on Monday."

"Bye," Blaine smiled at him and took a few steps in the direction of his apartment before glancing back at Kurt over his shoulder. Just before Kurt was swallowed up by the crowds on the street he dragged his eyes away from him, just missing Kurt looking back over his shoulder at him.

* * *

Moving the stack of sheet music off the piano bench, Blaine sat down and rested his fingers lightly over the keys, trying to decide what he was in the mood to play. He absently played a few random chords as he thought and found his mind drifting to Kurt: his bright blue eyes, his smile, the way his nose crinkled up when he laughed, the way Blaine's heart raced and breathing hitched just at the thought of him, and that indescribable feeling Blaine felt whenever he was around him…

His fingers began moving fluidly across the keys and he was still so focussed on Kurt that it took a few seconds to realise that he was playing the tune he had composed months ago, the one he was struggling to write lyrics to. He continued to picture Kurt in his mind's eye as he played – he wasn't entirely sure why, it just felt right.

"_All I want to do is write a song, one I haven't ever sung before,"_

The words came to him without him even needing to think about it. It was as if they had always been there inside of him, locked away, and now he had found the key.

"_All I want to do is write a song, but everything I say just comes out wrong,"_

He could picture Kurt as clearly as if he was standing right in front of him, his blue eyes twinkling in the soft light coming through the windows, the sun picking out streaks of lighter brown in his hair, his smooth skin glowing, his mouth quirked up in a smile.

"_I just lost control, __I just needed you to know, when in front of you, I feel invincible,"_

His surroundings melded into nothing, a nonsensical blur of colour, as he played. He was pouring everything into this song – his heart, his mind, his body – and his eyes were fixed ahead of him as if Kurt really stood there watching him play.

"_All I've got to do is sing a song, tell a little truth to everyone,"_

He played through the last chorus and when the song was finished he kept his fingers on the keys, letting the final note hang in the air. His gaze was still fixed ahead of him on seemingly nothing, but he was still lost in his own head, unfocused on what was around him. He was only just processing what he had just realised, what he had just written a song about.

He was in love with Kurt.

* * *

Rachel looked up from the stove as Kurt entered the kitchen. "How was coffee with Blaine?"

He felt a smile tug at the corners of his mouth at the thought of Blaine. "It was great, we're going to try and make it a weekly thing if we can."

Rachel stepped away from the stove and pulled open the fridge door, sticking her head inside as she searched for something. "I see," she said in a tone that had Kurt glancing up from poking at the vegetable stir fry Rachel was making.

"What is it?" he asked her, absently twirling the wooden spoon in his fingers.

Rachel pulled her head out the fridge and walked back to the stove carrying nothing. As Kurt suspected, she had only been looking through the fridge to hide her expression from him.

"What's what?" she asked mildly.

"You have something on your mind that you're not telling me. Considering you normally tell me absolutely _everything_, including a lot of things I _really_ don't want to know about you and Finn, I don't think you should start keeping things from me now."

Rachel was looking around on the counter, frowning. "It's nothing," she glanced over her shoulder at him and her frown cleared. "Pass the spoon, please." She held out her hand for it.

Kurt stopped twirling the spoon and held it close to his chest. "You can have the spoon if you tell me what you're determined to keep from me."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Cut it out, Kurt." She lunged forward to try and grab the spoon from him, but he was quicker and held it up above his head out of her reach.

"Tell me."

Rachel sighed agitatedly. "_Fine_, but it's nothing I haven't told you already, although you refuse to listen when I do tell you, so maybe you'll actually listen this time." She exhaled. "You need to sit down and really think about Tim and Blaine because you are making a big mistake all because you are too blind and oblivious to see what is right in front of you."

Kurt sighed. "_This_ again?"

"Yes, _this again_! I know Tim has been acting like the perfect boyfriend since you made up, but that side of him that he showed that caused the fight is the real Tim and someday in the future it is going to appear again and I really don't want to see my best friend in a relationship with someone who behaves like that. Tim isn't good for you and you are most definitely _not_ going to be alone forever, or whatever other crazy thoughts you have been having, if you break it off with him." She tugged the spoon out of Kurt's limp hand which now hung by his side. "Since you are still struggling to realise something I thought you would figure out eventually on your own, I'll spell it out for you. You, Kurt Hummel, are in love with Blaine Anderson." She shook her head at him, a small smile on her face. "It was almost painful to watch you two together the day in the Lima Bean as it was so, _so_ obvious how both of you felt about each other, but you were both so ridiculously oblivious about it."

She turned back to the stove then to finish cooking their dinner leaving Kurt standing staring at the spot where she had previously stood. The buzzer sounded and he numbly left the kitchen to go answer it, letting Tim into the building without even registering who he had just spoken to through the intercom. There was a knock on the door and he opened it, still looking and feeling rather shell-shocked.

"Tim?" he blinked at his boyfriend who was standing on the threshold.

Tim didn't seem to notice his confused tone or his stunned expression, he just launched into a speech that Kurt didn't hear a word of.

A hand was laid on his shoulder and he finally snapped out of his head and into the present, suddenly hearing Tim's voice like he had just tuned a radio.

"…don't you?" Tim smiled at him, taking Kurt's silence as confirmation and leaning forward to brush his lips across Kurt's.

Kurt leapt backwards, a hand against Tim's chest to prevent him from coming closer. "I can't do this."

Tim looked hurt and a little bit annoyed.

Kurt shook his head, his movements slightly jerky. "I'm sorry, Tim but I just can't."

"Did you want to take things slower? I'm sorry, I thought we were doing ok now and-"

"No, it's-" Kurt took another step back, Rachel's words ringing in his ears. "It's not that, I- I can't do any of this, I can't do _us _anymore." He was struggling with words; his head was all over the place just now.

"Kurt…" Tim took a step towards him.

He backed away, shaking his head. "No, just leave it, Tim, _please_. I should never have agreed to try and give it another chance."

Tim tried to approach him again, saying something Kurt didn't hear. "Just leave, please," he whispered.

Tim stared at him for a moment before turning on his heel and leaving the apartment, the door thudding shut behind him.

* * *

**A/N:** Long author's note ahead so bear with me :)

The song Blaine writes in this chapter is 'Little Bit of Truth' by You Me At Six. It came on my iPod during the very early stages of planning this story and I was immediately hit with the idea of Blaine writing a piece on the piano but struggling to write lyrics to it even though the lyrics were right there in his head and then him finally being able to get the lyrics out whilst simultaneously realising that he was in love with Kurt.

I'm not a fan of including great chunks of lyrics in stories, so I've only included a few of the more important lines in the chapter, but because this song shaped most of the story and plays such a large role in it I'm going to include the lyrics here in the author's note so you can read them without having to hunt them down on Google. Excuse the formatting of the lyrics, the site isn't cooperating with me so a semi-colon separates verses and choruses.

Little Bit of Truth:

_All I want to do is write a song_

_One I haven't ever sung before_

_I don't want to sing the same old thing_

_It wouldn't mean anything to me;_

_All I want to do is write a song_

_But everything I say just comes out wrong_

_I guess I'll just throw my thoughts away_

_Maybe pick them up another day;_

_I just lost control_

_I just wanted you to know_

_When I'm on my own_

_I feel invisible_

_I just lost control_

_I just needed you to know_

_When in front of you_

_I feel invincible;_

_I want to write a song that makes you smile_

_One that keeps you around for a while_

_I wish for, small things_

_Like losing, this feeling_

_I've seen this coming_

_I've seen you, leaving;_

_I just lost control_

_I just wanted you to know_

_When I'm on my own_

_I feel invisible_

_I just lost control_

_I just needed you to know_

_When in front of you_

_I feel invincible;_

_I know I've said and done some things_

_That made you feel a little empty_

_I've got a whole lot to learn_

_Every bridge I see, I seem to burn so_

_All I've got to do is sing a song_

_Tell a little truth to everyone_

_Sick of saying sorry when I'm not_

_But after a little love_

_That's all I've got;_

_I just lost control_

_I just wanted you to know_

_When I'm on my own_

_I feel invisible_

_I just lost control_

_I just needed you to know_

_When in front of you_

_I feel invincible_

_Invincible_

If you're not familiar with the song and listen to it (which I recommend doing so you can get the tone of the song) just keep in mind that Blaine's version is piano only. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a piano cover anywhere and didn't have the time to do one myself so you will have to use your imagination for how his version sounds. (Song link if you want to listen: /watch?v=kZBsKwGHDNk -add to end of usual youtube url)

Thank you for reading and for all of the reviews! :)


	18. Chapter 18

Once the door shut behind Tim, Kurt turned numbly and slumped down on the couch. The door through to the kitchen opened and Rachel entered the room, walking over to sit in the armchair where she watched him stare down at his hands in silence. They sat like that for a while: Kurt with his eyes fixed on his folded hands and Rachel with her concerned gaze on Kurt, and then Kurt broke the silence.

"I'm in love with Blaine," he whispered a little uncertainly as if testing the proclamation out. "I'm in love with him," he said, now speaking more strongly and with more certainty.

Rachel said nothing, allowing him to come to it all by himself, to finally wrap his head around the feelings he had been experiencing for weeks now.

"All those times-" he broke off and looked up at Rachel. "You were right and I didn't listen – again."

Rachel bit her lip. "At least you listened tonight and broke it off with Tim before that got any worse."

Kurt blinked at her. "Got any worse?" he repeated. "Was it really that bad, me dating him?"

"Not now it wasn't really, no, but I just worried that it would get worse after the way he treated you over Spring Break. A supportive, caring boyfriend doesn't act like that."

Kurt chewed on his bottom lip for a moment, lost in thought. "I felt the same way, some part of me deep down did as soon as he started complaining about me wanting to see my family. I started noticing things about him and things that he said, stuff that I had just brushed off before or was too blinded by my crush on him to see. You're right; I think being in a relationship with Tim could have gotten a lot messier at some point down the line. He isn't the type of person I should be with or that I want to be with."

Rachel continued to watch him with concern as Kurt sat in contemplative silence, wondering why he had looked past all of Tim's faults until now. He shook his head. "I can't believe that I managed to shake off the fact that I was falling for Blaine for all these weeks. I mean at times I thought I maybe wanted more than friendship with him, but I always pushed those thoughts aside as soon as they entered my head and-" he broke off, a sudden thought striking him.

Rachel slid forward to the edge of her chair. "What is it? What's wrong?" she asked, seeing Kurt's face fall.

"Blaine has a boyfriend," his voice sounded distant, like someone else was talking whilst he listened on from the other side of a large, empty room. "They have been together nine months." He sighed heavily. "None of it matters, that I've fallen for him doesn't matter, he's in love with someone else."

Rachel looked stunned by this news. "_Really?_ Well you wouldn't think he had a boyfriend from the way he looks at you."

Kurt looked defeated as his shoulders slumped and he fell back against the couch, staring up at the ceiling. "Well, he does, Rachel so I might as well forget the whole thing."

* * *

"Was that song about Kurt?"

Blaine jumped, spinning around on the piano bench to see Nick standing watching him from near the kitchen doorway. When Blaine just gaped speechlessly at him, his mind reeling too much to form a coherent sentence, Nick began slowly walking towards him.

"It's a beautiful song, one of your best I'd say, and you played it flawlessly." He paused a few feet away from Blaine. "The song was about Kurt, wasn't it?"

Blaine just nodded, still coming to terms with the sudden realisation he had just sung about.

"You're in love with him, aren't you?" Nick asked gently.

Another nod and Blaine felt almost light-headed from the dizzying rush of blood in his veins.

Nick nodded at the piano. "You should play that song for him, he would love it."

"How?" Blaine whispered, his voice tinged with slight desperation.

"Invite him over some day and play it for him here," Nick said as if this was the most obvious thing in the world.

Blaine nodded slowly and he could tell Nick was restraining himself from rolling his eyes with extreme difficulty, but he couldn't help it, his thoughts were running as slowly as honey.

Nick moved forward until he was at Blaine's side and leant against the piano. "Saturday; invite him over on Saturday, sometime in the afternoon so you have time to put ridiculous amounts of gel in your hair and debate over which bowtie to wear." He patted Blaine on the shoulder. "Call him tonight and ask him."

"Right," Blaine said, looking around for the stack of sheet music he had moved from the piano bench earlier, "ok." He began flicking through the pile of papers, searching for the sheet that he had written the music for the song on so that he could write down the lyrics before he forgot them – not that he thought he could. He could feel Nick's eyes on him as he began scribbling down the lyrics and then his friend walked away, apparently satisfied that he had gotten Blaine going somewhere towards sorting out his relationship with Kurt.

Blaine finished writing down the lyrics and stared down at the page the song was written on, once again slightly stunned that all his heart and soul, all his feelings for Kurt, were on this one inconspicuous sheet of paper. He set the sheet aside solemnly and pulled his phone out of his pocket and scrolled thought the contacts for Kurt's number in a manner similar to that of being about to have his final phone call before being trialled for death. He was probably being overly dramatic, but as his finger hovered over the call button, he thought about how much he hoped Kurt felt the same way and how much he wanted to be with Kurt and how he would be unimaginably devastated if Kurt didn't return his feelings and, even worse, if he then cut Blaine out of his life altogether.

His thumb stabbed at the call button before he was ready and he raised the phone to his ear, his hands shaking so badly the phone slipped in his grasp and he almost dropped it, only just managing to catch it and press it to his ear before it fell. His heart threw itself in wild, frantic leaps against his ribcage as he listened to the phone ringing once, twice, three times – and what if he didn't answer?

"Hey, Blaine, what's up?"

Blaine closed his eyes, letting out a short, shaky breath. "Hey, Kurt how's things with you?"

There was a short pause during which there was only the faint humming sound of the connection and then Kurt said, "Things are…good."

Concern for Kurt eradicated all worries about his own plans from his mind. "Is everything ok? You don't sound so sure."

"It's nothing, everything's fine, _I'm_ fine," Kurt hastened to assure him. "Something happened earlier that made me a little…upset, but it's all good now."

"Well, if you're sure you're ok…" Blaine frowned slightly as he spoke.

"I'm positive," Kurt said firmly. "So, what's happening in Blaine's world?"

Blaine laughed. "'Blaine's world', _really?_"

He could almost hear Kurt smiling on the other end of the line and he felt his nerves dampen down. "Are you free Saturday afternoon at around three?"

"Yes, I am. If we're going out for coffee again then can we go-"

"Not coffee," Blaine interrupted. "I was wondering if you wanted to come over to my place? I have some music I want you to hear." He worried at his bottom lip with his teeth as he waited for Kurt's reply.

"Sure, I'd love to! I loved hearing your music that night at Bar4; it would be great to hear more."

Blaine's body, which had been tense with nervous anticipation, relaxed. "Great, I'll text you my address and I'll see you on Saturday."

"See you then, enjoy the rest of your week!"

"Yeah, you too. Bye!"

Once Kurt had said goodbye he hung up feeling relieved, his heart beginning to slow down to its normal rhythm.

* * *

Kurt stood hesitantly outside Blaine's apartment building. Having already double-checked the address on his phone he had no reason to stand outside the door anymore, but he still couldn't bring himself to press the buzzer.

This was the first time seeing Blaine since he had discovered he was in love with him and he was bound to do something stupid – and what if Blaine guessed how he felt? But, then again, he reasoned as he raised a hand to reach the buzzer, he had fallen for Blaine _weeks_ ago so if Blaine hadn't guessed by now then why should he today? He pressed the buzzer, his heart skipping when Blaine answered a moment later and let him into the building.

"It's only Blaine. Just because you're realised something in your head, doesn't mean anything has changed. It's only Blaine." He repeated this mantra in a mutter to himself as he climbed the stairs to Blaine's apartment. When he reached Blaine's door he took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down, and knocked.

The door was pulled open after a couple of seconds to reveal Blaine. Kurt smiled at the sight of him, trying to ignore the way his heart pounded in his chest and his breath caught. "Hi."

"Hey, did you find it ok?" Blaine greeted him, stepping aside to let Kurt enter the apartment.

Kurt stepped inside, looking around curiously. "Yeah, it was easy enough." He heard the door close behind him and then Blaine appeared at his side, showing him through to a sunny living area dominated by a piano over by the windows. There was a couch and a couple of armchairs grouped around a coffee table, the surface of which was covered by books, sheet music, and various other papers. A TV and a games console were against the wall behind it.

"Can I get you anything to drink?"

Kurt shook his head, still looking around the room. "No thanks." He took a step further into the room. "Nice place."

Blaine, who had been watching him whilst fiddling with the dark red bowtie he was wearing, smiled. "Thanks, I tidied up a bit before you came though; it's not always this neat. My roommate likes to spread his possessions as widely around the apartment as possible." He paused. "I- I have a few songs I would like you to hear, it's good to get a fresh opinion on them rather than just my roommate's or college friend's ones all the time. So, yeah…" He inched towards the piano. "Make yourself comfortable," he waved his hand at the chairs around the coffee table.

Kurt sat down on one of the armchairs, watching as Blaine – now sitting in front of the piano – sifted through some handwritten sheet music, biting down on his bottom lip as he did so. He set one of the pages on the music rack on the piano and stretched his hands out in front of him, resting his fingers lightly on the keys.

"It's all songs on the piano I'll play for you as I remember you said you loved the piano," he told Kurt, flashing him a smile. He turned back to face the piano. "This is something I wrote a few weeks ago," he explained before starting to play.

Kurt felt like he was barely breathing as the beautiful, delicate sounds of the piano filled the room. He found himself watching Blaine's hands as he played: his fingers dancing lightly over the keys, their movements becoming more rapid and forceful as the song built to a climax and Blaine held a note with both his voice and the piano. The lyrics were beautiful as well and went well with the delicate tune and Blaine's voice was simply breath-taking in his opinion.

When the song ended Kurt applauded him as Blaine shot him a nervous smile. "You're amazing, Blaine really, I could never write anything like that no matter how hard I tried. The music and lyrics just go so beautifully together.

"Thanks," Blaine said with a slight blush. He replaced the sheet music with that for another song. "This is something I've been playing around with over the last few days, so it will still sound a little raw and unfinished. It doesn't have any lyrics yet as I'm still throwing around a few ideas for them, so…yeah," he finished with a nervous half-shrug.

Kurt wondered why Blaine was being so unsure and nervous about his music. He had played in front of Kurt before and he knew Kurt liked his original compositions. Maybe it was the more intimate setting of just the two of them in Blaine's living room. Blaine's insecurities did fade away after he had played the first few bars of the song and he seemed to forget about his audience and it was just him, the piano, and his music. Though the piece Blaine was currently playing had no lyrics, Kurt could feel the emotions in the music just as tangibly as he could in the song with lyrics and despite Blaine's warning that the song was still a work in progress, Kurt personally thought it was flawless.

Tears collected in his eyes as the music became very soft and sweet. He closed his eyes, letting the music fill him and take him to another place, one which was deep inside him and close to his heart where memories of his Mom, Dad, Carole, Rachel, Finn, and Blaine resided – where the people he loved the most were.

As the final note hung in the air, Kurt opened his eyes, quickly wiping at the tears. Blaine saw them before Kurt could swipe the last of them away.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry," he apologised with a small smile, his voice low.

Kurt shook his head, smiling as he dropped his hand from his face. "I cried because your music is so beautiful and it moved me. It's definitely nothing to apologise for." He absently picked at the sleeve of his sweater which was now spotted with damp patches from his tears. "Have you thought about not having lyrics at all for that piece? I thought it sounded wonderful the way it was. Music is all about telling a story and conveying certain emotions, isn't it? That piece already does that without lyrics. In my opinion, you don't need any."

Blaine's eyes held his for a moment, his expression unreadable, and his features soft. "I have written several pieces on the piano that don't have lyrics and you're right, this song doesn't need any either." One corner of his mouth pulled up into a lopsided smile. "Thank you," he said quietly.

Kurt said nothing to this, too lost in Blaine's gaze and the feelings overwhelming him. Blaine finally dragged his eyes away from Kurt, coughing nervously as he picked up another sheet of music. The page trembled slightly as he placed it on the music rack. He stared at it for a long moment, rubbing his hands along the tops of his thighs, before resting them on the keys again.

"I wrote the lyrics to this the day I called and invited you over, but the music has been written for months, it just took certain- well, I had to experience something before I was able to write lyrics and-" He broke off and licked his lips. "I'll just let you hear it."

Kurt listened to the opening notes with a slight frown creasing his forehead – something was clearly different about this song that had Blaine rambling and flustered. When Blaine started to sing, Kurt moved forward until he was sitting on the edge of the chair, feeling curious. He stared blindly ahead of him as he carefully listened to both the melody and the words Blaine was singing, something starting to tease at his brain as the song moved into the second chorus.

When the song ended neither of them said anything and the silence in the apartment was almost deafening. Then, eventually, Blaine spoke, still staring ahead of him at the sheet music with unfocused eyes. "I wrote the music the night before I saw you for the first time and every time I have seen you since then the music has been in the back of my mind. I tried to write lyrics, but could never think of anything. It wasn't that my mind was blank, the lyrics were _there_ in my head, they were always just out of reach."

Kurt was now watching Blaine with wide eyes, his brain slowly processing everything he was saying.

"Then the first day we met up for coffee in Ohio I could almost see the lyrics, they were just out of my line of sight, just on the tip of my tongue, but it wasn't until that day I called you that they came to me in a rush, just flooding out of me as I played and it was then that I realised something and understood why I hadn't been able to write the lyrics until that moment."

He spun slowly around on the piano bench to face Kurt, his shining hazel eyes searching Kurt's face. Kurt swallowed, barely breathing and frozen in place as Blaine slowly stood up and approached him. He sat down on the couch next to the armchair where Kurt sat so that they were merely inches apart.

"I realised that I couldn't write lyrics for so long because I hadn't had the right experience. It was some deep, undiscovered part of me that wrote the music and I couldn't reach that part again until I fell in love. And that's another thing," he added, seemingly talking to himself as much as he was to Kurt, "I thought I had been in-love with Jeremy at one point, but I guess I never truly was as it felt nothing like this."

Kurt finally found his tongue. "You thought you _had been _in-love with Jeremy? Aren't you two still together?"

Blaine shook his head. "We broke up around a week ago. We realised the feelings between us were no longer romantic, only friendship."

Kurt's breathing hitched. "Tim and I broke up as well," he whispered, unsure exactly why he felt he needed to tell Blaine this.

Blaine swallowed, his eyes darkening slightly. "That song is about you; about me struggling with writing the song for so long because I just needed to tell the truth to myself and realise that I had fallen for you." He paused. "I love you, Kurt," he whispered.

Kurt's heart skipped a beat and his eyes widened slightly as Blaine gazed up at him looking so apprehensive and vulnerable. Without even thinking about it, he leant forwards, eyes searching Blaine's face for any sign that he shouldn't do this – there wasn't one.

Their lips met, Kurt kissing Blaine softly, his heart somehow managing to accelerate more as Blaine responded and Kurt floated in a haze of unbelievable joy and love and bliss as they kissed. This was nothing like kissing Tim or Alex; Kurt didn't even realise it was possible to feel this way. As silly and cliché as it was, he could understand where the fireworks expression came from. This was a huge explosion of emotions like nothing he had ever experienced; beautiful and spectacular, it made him almost dizzy

Blaine's mouth opened against his and he only just held back a moan. Blaine tasted of coffee and something that was uniquely _Blaine_. Kurt couldn't get enough of it. He sucked Blaine's bottom lip into his mouth as Blaine's hand came up to cup his face, his thumb stroking slowly along the length of his cheekbone.

When they finally broke apart they were both breathing heavily. They stared at each other in wonder and amazement, as if they were seeing each other for the first time. Blaine's lips were swollen slightly, his cheeks had a light flush of colour, and his eyes were wide – he was the most beautiful sight Kurt had ever seen.

"I love you, too," Kurt whispered. "It took me a while to realise how I felt, but I've been falling for you a bit more every day since that first time I saw you on the subway." A smile stretched his face – he had never felt happier in his life than he did right now.

Blaine's smile was dazzling. "Who would have guessed it, falling in love on the subway."

* * *

**A/N: **And we have Klaine! Yay! :) Hope I didn't disappoint with the moment I know you have all been waiting for.

I imagine Blaine's piano piece as being something similar to Ludovico Einaudi's 'High Heels' and I listened to it whilst writing this chapter. I listen to a lot of classical music whilst writing, I find it sets the mood better.

As always, thank you for reading and reviewing, it makes my day when I read your reviews and see how many people are reading this story.

Next chapter will be posted on Saturday :)


	19. Chapter 19

Blaine picked up a small pile of sheet music and practically skipped across the room to the coffee table where he began to organise the sheet music scattered across its surface into stacks according to genre. Since Kurt had left around half an hour ago he hadn't been able to wipe the smile off his face – not that he wanted to, he couldn't remember the last time he had ever felt this happy, if he ever had.

"I'm guessing it went well," a voice said from over near the front door.

Blaine's head shot up and he looked over in the direction of the voice, startled. Nick was leaning against the wall with a lopsided smirk on his face as he watched Blaine fall back onto the couch sighing happily.

Blaine stared off into space, the huge smile still present on his face as the memory of Kurt's lips on his filled his head until Nick cleared his throat and he was jolted back to reality.

"Am I really going to have to pry the details from you?" Nick asked, walking further into the room. "What happened?"

"We kissed," Blaine told him, his grin now almost impossibly large as he only barely managed to hold back the squeal threatening to escape.

A smile almost as big as Blaine's spread across Nick's face and he laughed in delight.

"He told me he loves me," Blaine added, his heart leaping at the memory.

His roommate bounced down next to him on the couch. "_Aww_, I'm happy for you, Blainers." He attempted to ruffle Blaine's hair affectionately, but the gesture was ineffective due to the large amounts of gel in Blaine's hair. He smiled fondly at his friend. "I don't think I've ever seen you this happy before, it's adorable." He patted Blaine's arm and stood up, heading over to the kitchen. "So when do I get to meet the beautiful, intelligent, funny, and angelic-voiced Kurt?"

Blaine blushed as he followed Nick into the kitchen – he _knew_ he shouldn't have gushed to him about Kurt, but he hadn't been able to help himself. "I don't know, maybe we could all go out for coffee or dinner sometime. Kurt warned me that his roommate was desperate to meet me, so we can invite her as well."

Nick began rooting through the cupboards and fridge for something to have for dinner. "I'm glad Kurt has a friend like that so we can spread the workload of helping plan your wedding between us."

Blaine felt his face redden even more, Nick could probably feel the heat radiating off it. "We've only been together for a few hours!"

Nick ignored this. "Seeing as we are celebrating you and loverboy finally getting your acts together, I think we should go out for dinner," he announced, kicking the fridge door shut.

"Fine by me as long as you don't try and chat-up any waitresses this time."

Nick scowled at him as he walked past him on his way out of the kitchen. "That was one time, Blaine, _one time_!"

* * *

Kurt's phone rang just as he was shutting down his laptop after a long Skype call with his Dad and Carole. They had both been concerned over his break-up with Tim (though he played down what all happened between them so that they wouldn't be too worried and his Dad wouldn't try to hunt Tim down with a shotgun), happy that he was with Blaine and that they were happy together, as well as a bit shocked that he was in-love with Blaine already as they hadn't even heard his name before. So Kurt had to tell them the whole story of how he and Blaine had met. When they found out Blaine was from Westerville his Dad practically demanded that he invite Blaine over the next time they were both in Ohio so they could meet him.

He shut the lid of his laptop and picked up his phone, smiling when he saw the caller I.D. "Hey, Blaine."

"Hey, Kurt how's things?"

"Good, I survived the interrogation from Rachel."

Blaine chuckled and Kurt's heart skipped at the sound. "I think I got off lightly with Nick, though he does want to meet you."

Kurt sank down onto his bed, pulling his legs up and crossing them. "Yeah, Rachel was going on again about how she _needs_ to meet you. We should all go out for dinner together sometime."

"That's what I was thinking. We could do it next week sometime."

"Sounds good to me. I'll look over both our schedules and let you know which evenings are good for both of us and we can work something out."

Blaine agreed that this would be best and then paused for a beat before speaking again, his voice taking on a different tone. "Kurt?" He hesitated and Kurt's heart contracted and sped up with worry.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

"I was just thinking about earlier when you told me about Tim and-" He paused. "Are you sure you are ok with being in another relationship so soon? I know my relationship with Jeremy technically only ended a week ago, but for weeks before that we felt like just friends and our relationship ended on much better terms than yours and Tim's did."

He paused again and Kurt sat in silence knowing he hadn't finished saying what he wanted to.

"I'm just worried about you, Kurt, that's all. I don't want you to rush into this. If you need some time to get over everything that happened with Tim and put it all behind you then I'm more than happy to wait. I just want you to be happy."

"I _am _happy," Kurt assured him. "Being with you is what I have wanted for months, I just didn't realise that until recently. Things really ended with Tim when we started arguing just before Spring Break. Although we still had the label of 'boyfriends' until Wednesday, I didn't feel romantically attached to him at all, especially this last week after I gave him a second chance. I felt nothing towards him and I barely spoke to him the whole week until he showed up at my apartment on Wednesday evening and I ended it." He paused, pressing the phone closer to his ear as if he could be nearer Blaine by doing so. "All I want is to be with you, that's what makes me happy. I've never been as happy as I am when I'm around you. I just want to put everything that happened with Tim behind me and be with you."

There was another short pause on the other end of the line. Kurt pulled his legs up and hugged them to his chest as he listened to the hum of the phone connection.

"I love you, Kurt," Blaine said in a slightly choked voice.

Kurt smiled, resting his chin on his knees. "I love you, too," he said softly.

From the living room he heard the sound of Rachel calling his name and he bit back a sigh. "I have to go," he told Blaine reluctantly, "Rachel wants me. Probably wants an audience for the song I heard her practicing earlier."

"Ok, I'll talk to you later. Love you."

Kurt's smile widened, he would never tire of hearing Blaine say those words. "Love you, too, bye!"

He smiled fondly down at the phone as Blaine's name disappeared from the screen after he hung up. Rachel shouted on him again and he stood up, tossing his phone down on his bed before padding through to the living room to see what she wanted.

When he entered the lamp-lit room he found Rachel sitting on the couch looking through some sheet music. She looked up at the sound of Kurt's approach.

"_About ti_- oh, I didn't interrupt a conversation with Blaine, did I?"

Kurt rested his forearms on the back of the couch. "How did you know I was talking to Blaine?"

Rachel smirked. "You have that lovesick puppy expression on your face."

He blushed and avoided Rachel's teasing gaze. "I was just finishing talking to him when you shouted for me. We decided we should all go out for dinner next week: you, me, Blaine, and Blaine's roommate Nick."

"Oh good, maybe I could invite Finn as well," she mused.

"If you want to invite him along to eat an embarrassing amount of food in a short period of time then be my guest."

Rachel sat in contemplative silence for a moment. "Anyway," she said, jumping to her feet, "I've been practicing this song and have it mastered now, but I would like your opinion."

As she prepared to start, Kurt moved around to sit on the couch. He settled back as Rachel smiled brightly at him and then began to sing.

* * *

It felt like something straight out of one of his wistful fantasies as he wove through the waiting crowds on the subway platform until he reached his boyfriend's side. Kurt smiled when he saw him approaching and turned to greet him with a kiss.

"Good morning," Blaine smiled at him when they broke apart, reaching over to entwine their fingers together.

Kurt let out a small laugh. "Good morning to you, too." He chuckled again as Blaine continued to smile up at him. "You're always so formal, like a gentleman." He straightened Blaine's bowtie with his free hand. "I guess that's how they teach you to behave at Dalton."

"We were taught a bit of manners, I guess," Blaine shrugged.

Kurt just smiled at him. "I think it's adorable." His hand moved from Blaine's bowtie to smooth a small curl that had escaped from the gel back into place. "Though you could cut down on the gel a bit, you're not in a fifties movie."

Their train arrived and they walked slowly towards the end car still hand-in-hand.

"You haven't seen my hair without gel. If there is the _slightest_ hint of static in the room it explodes up into a big, fluffy mess."

Kurt patted his head. "I have to see that sometime, it sounds cute."

Blaine wrinkled his nose as they stepped onto the train. "It is anything but cute, _trust me_."

They found a spot to stand on the train and Blaine had to stop himself from pinching his arm to check that this wasn't all a dream; Kurt on the subway with him holding his hand. But he knew that not even his wildest dreams could have conjured up the fluttering in his stomach every time Kurt smiled at him or the tingling of his skin wherever Kurt touched it, nor could any dream give him the same feelings of euphoria and adoration he currently felt.

"Rachel and I can manage Wednesday or Friday evenings for dinner," Kurt said as the train stopped at a station and people began to crowd in and out of their subway car.

"I think Friday would be best for Nick and I. Do you have any preferences for where you want to go? Because I'm ok with anywhere and Nick will be as well." Blaine shuffled closer to Kurt to avoid getting hit by a briefcase being carelessly swung by a tall business man in a stiff suit who was too engrossed in a conversation with a couple of other similarly dressed men to notice him. The man carefully walked around Kurt as he moved further down the train car and Blaine let out a small sigh. "The disadvantage of being short in a crowd is everybody looks over the top of you and don't seem to notice you're there."

Kurt smiled at the disgruntled expression on his face. "You could always wear platform boots to give you another few inches of height." At Blaine's scandalised expression, he chuckled. "I'm _kidding_. To answer your question about dinner location, I don't mind either, but Rachel was going on about how she has wanted to try out this place just off Broadway that apparently serves really good vegan food – Rachel is vegan," he added, seeing Blaine's curious look.

Blaine shrugged. "Well, if Rachel wants to go there then we can as long as they have non-vegan options as well, I can't see Nick being too happy with vegan food."

"They do according to Rachel." Kurt glanced up as the train slowed again and his station came into view. "I'll ask Rachel more about the restaurant and text you the details later." The doors of the train opened and he reluctantly let go of Blaine's hand, hitching his bag further up his shoulder.

"Have a good day," Blaine said.

"You too," Kurt bent down to kiss him lightly on the lips. "See you later." He turned and left the train and Blaine watched him until he disappeared from sight, the crowds on the platform swallowing him up.

* * *

**A/N: **You wanted some more Klaine sweet, fluffiness, well, now you've got some :)

Only one more chapter left in this story! I hope the ending doesn't seem sudden, but this story was all about them meeting and then eventually getting together rather than them being in a relationship. The final chapter ties up the last of the loose ends, including one last appearance from someone who just wouldn't go away.

Thanks for reading and for all of your reviews! I loved reading all of your reactions on chapter 18.

Final chapter for this story will be posted on Wednesday and then I'll be starting my new story :)


	20. Chapter 20

The weather seemed to be reflecting Kurt's mood as he left class and crossed campus to his usual coffee shop to meet Rachel. The sun smiled down at him from a cloudless blue sky the colour of forget-me-nots and a light breeze ruffled his hair carrying on it the scents of summer flowers from the nearby flower beds: Roses, Jasmine, and Lavender. Even finding out that he had left most of his notes for one class at home hadn't ruined his good mood. He had been riding on a high ever since Saturday afternoon when he and Blaine had confessed their feelings for each other.

A blast of coffee and cinnamon scented air hit him when he pulled open the door to the coffee shop. He looked around at the students grouped around the tables, searching for Rachel. He knew that there was a good chance she wasn't there yet as she had a vocal lesson before this and he knew she liked to stay back after it had ended to talk to her teacher. He was right; there was no sign of his friend anywhere.

He got himself a coffee and then found a table in a relatively quiet corner of the café. Once he had sat down and set his satchel down on the floor by his chair, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and began amusing himself by texting Blaine.

**The gingerbread men at the coffee shop here have icing bowties. They reminded me of you x**

_I'm glad I'm being compared to a baked good; people have compared me to much less flattering things in the past x_

**Of course I'm comparing you to a delicious sugary treat! You're just as sweet as one :) Much less flattering? Why is the word 'hobbit' springing to mind? x**

_:( _

Kurt smiled; he could picture the adorable pout on Blaine's face with his huge puppy-dog eyes. Nobody could say no to that face.

**Aww, Blainers. I love your height, or lack of it, I think it's adorable x**

_That's the first time you've called me Blainers. Does that mean I can call you Kurtsie now? :) x_

**Only when we aren't out in public x**

"Kurt, can I talk to you?"

Kurt looked up from his phone, his smile fading, to see Tim standing at the other end of the table. He shrugged and Tim sat down, eyeing the phone in Kurt's hand as it buzzed again and Kurt read the message with a smile.

Tim cleared his throat and Kurt reluctantly looked up from his phone again.

"I wanted to see if we could work things out. I clearly came over at a bad time on Wednesday, so I thought I'd give you some space over the weekend, some time to calm down and think, and then I'd come talk to you today. I know you always meet Rachel here at this time so I knew where to find you." He shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

Kurt shook his head. "Tim, there's _nothing_ to work out. I told you on Wednesday, I can't do this anymore. You ruined it when you told me you didn't want me to go home and see my family for Spring Break."

Tim looked a little desperate. "You can't just give up on us like that." He reached across the table for Kurt's hand, but Kurt slid his hands back towards him and dropped them down onto his lap. Tim's face creased into a frown. "I know there's still something between us, there has been something since before that party last semester."

"I already gave you a second chance. I'm not just giving up." Kurt was starting to get frustrated. "And you can't keep bringing up the party. That was a drunken mistake."

"We weren't _that_ drunk," Tim protested, "we both still remembered it afterwards." He smirked. "And it was good, wasn't it?"

Kurt let out an aggravated sigh. "I'm just glad I wasn't drunk enough that I allowed things to go too far," he muttered darkly.

Tim's frown deepened, his mouth tightening.

Kurt shook his head again. "I gave you a second chance, Tim. I didn't have to and I probably shouldn't have, but I did and it didn't work out. Yes, I liked you before and had a crush on you, but those feelings are gone now."

Tim watched him as he fiddled with the lid on his coffee cup. "I really wanted it to work between us, Kurt," he said a little sadly.

"Me too, but that's all in the past now."

Tim watched Kurt in silence for a moment. "I really screwed things up, didn't I?"

Kurt nodded.

Tim sighed and got to his feet just as Rachel appeared.

"What's going on?" she asked, glancing between the two of them: Kurt sitting stiffly in his chair and Tim standing uncomfortably by the table.

"Nothing," Kurt replied. "Tim was just leaving."

Tim's jaw clenched and he nodded once, brusquely. For a second or two he looked like he wanted to say something, but instead he turned and walked away.

* * *

Blaine swung his and Kurt's clasped hands between them as they turned down the street that Blaine's apartment building was on. The lights of the city created a glittering net around them, washing out most of the stars from the night sky. For once, Blaine didn't have a wish to be able to see the stars as much as he could from his house on the outskirts of Westerville. The night didn't look anything less than perfect to him with Kurt by his side, his thumb occasionally brushing along the tops of his knuckles.

They had just finished having dinner with Nick, Rachel, and Finn. Blaine had braced himself for an interrogation from Rachel, some threatening words from Finn about what would happen to him if he hurt his step-brother, and some embarrassing comments from Nick, but that hadn't happened. Rachel and Finn had both asked about his college course and his music, but it wasn't the fifth degree he had been expecting. Nick had made one or two comments about how lovesick he had been over Kurt but had been too stupid to see it, but other than that the evening had been very enjoyable and they had all had a great time. Blaine liked both Finn and Rachel, despite Rachel being as full-on as Kurt had warned, and Blaine could see them all becoming fast friends.

After they had left the restaurant Rachel, Finn, and Nick had gone back to Rachel's apartment to talk about Ohio, sports, and to just generally get to know each other better. This allowed Kurt and Blaine to get some time alone at Blaine's apartment and after an immature remark from Nick about using protection, the group had split and he and Kurt had set off for his apartment.

They climbed the steps to the front door where Blaine was forced to let go of Kurt's hand so he could open the door. The stairs leading up to his apartment were deserted and their footsteps echoed off the bare walls. They ascended the stairs in silence and Blaine was surprised his heartbeat wasn't reverberating in the silence along with the sound of their footsteps; the pounding of his heart sounded loud to his own ears.

He pushed open the door to the apartment and let Kurt enter ahead of him. After shutting the door he joined Kurt where he stood in the middle of the living room gazing out the windows at the view of the city. The city's lights shone like jewels, their glow lighting up the room enough that you could almost get away with not switching on any lights at night. There was barely any sky visible through the windows, just a small patch of inky blackness caught between buildings, and the view was mainly of other buildings, but it had a strange beauty about it all the same.

"You have a much better view than what my apartment has, most of its windows look directly at the sides of other apartment blocks," Kurt said.

Blaine moved his gaze from the windows to Kurt's face. Shadows were cast across some of it, but the city lights were reflected in his eyes and they accented the curves and planes of his face. He raised a hand and traced the line of Kurt's jaw from just below his ear down to his chin and Kurt shivered slightly, turning to face him.

"Will you play a song on the piano for me?" he asked, his voice low.

Blaine nodded. "Of course, but only if you sing."

At Kurt's nod of agreement he turned and headed over to the piano, turning on a few lights on the way somewhat reluctantly – there had been something more intimate about the lack of light, it had created a tension that had made Blaine's heart race and his breathing uneven.

Kurt leant against the piano as he sat down on the bench until Blaine shook his head at him and shifted further along the bench, patting the space beside him. Kurt sat down beside him; the bench was so short that they were pressed against each other with Blaine only just having enough room to play the piano.

He set some music on the rack. "How about this song?"

Kurt nodded. "Sure, I can sing that."

Blaine struggled to concentrate on the piano as Kurt sang. He wanted to just sit and listen to him sing, but Kurt had wanted him to play, so he forced himself to focus on the music and he managed to get through the song without making any mistakes – a miracle.

"I love hearing you sing," Blaine sighed. He blushed as another thought occurred to him. "Don't laugh, but the first time I heard you sing at that NYADA performance I compared it to an angel's voice."

Kurt laughed lightly. "That explains the 'falling from heaven' comment you texted me that time."

Blaine blushed harder, keeping his eyes fixed on the piano keys.

Kurt covered Blaine's hand with his and entwined their fingers. "There's no need to be embarrassed about it, I'm very flattered that you thought my voice was so breath-taking that you compared it to something ethereal."

Blaine smiled up at him and Kurt squeezed his hand before letting it go. "Can we sing a duet? I want to sing with you."

Blaine nodded, his blush starting to fade. He picked up a stack of sheet music from the floor by the piano. "What song do you want to do?"

Kurt took the stack from him and riffled through it. He paused at a page and pulled it out from the middle of the pile with a smile before holding it up so Blaine could see.

"'Baby, It's Cold Outside'?" he read off the top of the sheet with a smile. "It's almost summer."

Kurt set the music down on the rack. "I know, but I want to sing it. I'll take the female part."

"Ok."

Blaine set his fingers on the keys and began to play. This time he was able to look sideways and meet Kurt's eyes as he played as he knew the music to this song almost by heart. The song ended with them smiling at each other. The smile slipped from Kurt's face after a few seconds, his expression changing as his eyes flicked downwards and then he was surging forwards and pressing his lips to Blaine's, kissing him hungrily, passionately. Blaine's lips slid against Kurt's as he clutched at his boyfriend's shirt, tugging him closer. He parted Kurt's lips further with a sweep of his tongue and Kurt groaned softly when their tongues met. And then Kurt's lips were moving away and Blaine was trying to chase after them until Kurt began kissing along his jaw and then down his neck, sucking and nipping lightly at the skin there and Blaine was making little whimpering noises.

"Love you," Kurt murmured against his neck. He moved his head up so his lips met Blaine's again.

"Love you, too," Blaine whispered against Kurt's mouth.

Kurt's hands slid over his shoulders until they reached the bowtie he was wearing. He tugged at it so that the knot loosened. "You know, when I first saw you I called you 'Bowtie' in my head because you were always wearing one."

Blaine smiled. "Do you want to know what my nickname for you was back then?"

Kurt raised his eyes to meet Blaine's, their blue colour sparkling in the light. "I called you 'Blue Eyes'."

Kurt let out a small chuckle and kissed Blaine again, his mouth lingering less than an inch away from Blaine's lips after they broke apart. "I love you, Bowtie."

Blaine smiled. "I love you, Blue Eyes."

* * *

**A/N: **I actually think it's physically impossible for me to write anything other than a ridiculously sweet ending to my stories.

Anyways, that was the final chapter! There is going to be an epilogue (to the people I already told, yes, I'm now calling it an epilogue as it is turning out different from what I thought) and I have written about 3/4 of it, so it should be posted by Sunday at the latest.

I'm hoping to post the first chapter of my new story on Saturday. It's called 'Off Camera' and features talk show host Kurt and Grammy award winning musician Blaine. If that sounds like something that might appeal to you then check it out :)

Thank you for reading and for all the reviews!


	21. Epilogue

Swallowing the last mouthful of his coffee, Kurt set his mug in the sink. "I'm off," he informed Blaine, causing his boyfriend to start slightly and look up from where he had been staring down into his coffee mug whilst nibbling on his bottom lip. He bent down to give Blaine a quick kiss. "I'll stop by the grocery store on the way home and get some things to cook dinner tonight."

Blaine suddenly snapped out of whatever trance he was in – writing a song Kurt suspected – and his eyes focused fully on Kurt. "No, don't bother; I'll take care of dinner tonight."

Kurt gave a small shrug. "Ok. Have a nice day, honey," he said as he turned to leave the kitchen.

"Love you!" Blaine called after him and Kurt smiled as he scooped up his keys from the table by the door.

"Love you, too!"

He let himself out of the apartment and left the building, still smiling. Everything was going great in his life right now: he had a main role in an off-Broadway musical and was feeling more confident about it with each successive rehearsal, Blaine had just recently finished composing the score for a short film and was now working towards recording his first album, his and Blaine's relationship was still going strong after over two years, and moving in with Blaine a year ago had been one of the happiest days of his life.

The route to the subway station was familiar, one he had walked many times, one that Blaine had walked on the day they first saw each other and all those weeks afterwards when they watched each other from afar. The air was cool and crisp with the beginnings of fall and Central Park would soon be a riot of colour. He inhaled deeply and felt his smile widen, in a really good mood for no discernible reason, as he reached the station and descended the steps onto the platform.

He read over the scenes in his script that he knew he needed to work on whilst he waited for his train to arrive and when the train pulled into the station he automatically headed for the end car; he still always waited for his train down the far end of the platform and still always travelled in the end car of the train. He looked up from his script when he entered the train car, glancing around to try and find a spot to stand amongst the crowds of commuters. He found somewhere just before the train began to move and had just returned his attention to his script when someone bumped into him.

"Sorry," they said in a low voice and Kurt glanced up to respond to their apology, but only catching the briefest glimpse of bright hazel eyes before the person was gone, their hand brushing against Kurt's as they disappeared into the dense crowds further towards the front of the train car. Kurt frowned at the spot where the person had just disappeared, sure that that had been Blaine.

He suddenly realised that the person he was positive had been Blaine – no one else had eyes like that or caused his skin to tingle from a brief brush of skin – had pressed a folded piece of paper into his hand. Curious, he unfolded the sheet of notebook paper, smoothing it out to read a short note in what was instantly recognisable as Blaine's handwriting.

_Kurt,_

_Because we have spent many an hour in coffee shops _

_You should visit our favourite NY café during your lunch break and remember all those days we_

_Stole time out of busy college schedules and crazy work hours to see each other_

_My other request is that you order your usual – grande non-fat mocha. You will be recognised by your _

_Eyes._

Kurt squinted down at note, wondering where Blaine's penchant for writing in riddles had come from. And what was all this about ordering coffee and being recognised by his eyes?

Shrugging, he folded the note back up and slid it into the pocket of his jeans. If Blaine wanted to play games with riddles then he would just have to play along; not that he could ever say no to him.

* * *

He pushed open the door of the coffee shop, a flood of memories hitting him along with the smell of coffee and cinnamon; grabbing coffee with Blaine between classes, meetings before their classes started for the day, Blaine asking him to move in with him, telling Blaine that he got the part in the musical…

He took another step inside when The Cab's 'Vegas Skies' started playing through the speakers the café must have somewhere. Kurt froze, wondering if it was a coincidence that they were playing the song that had caused him to approach Blaine and talk to him for the first time, or if it was Blaine's doing. He could feel the barista's eyes on him as he stood there, a few feet inside the café, with wide eyes and memories of a night at Bar4 a little over two years ago hitting him hard and fast. Giving his head a little shake, he approached the counter, smiling tentatively at the barista who had pretended to be absorbed in tidying a stack of waxed paper coffee cups when Kurt had snapped out of his trance.

"Hi, what can I get you?" she asked, smiling brightly at him.

"A grande non-fat mocha, please," he replied a little hesitantly.

She smiled wider and nodded, reaching behind the neatly stacked cups and handing him a cup with writing in black marker on the outside.

"Thanks," Kurt said with a smile, taking the cup and once again recognising the handwriting as being Blaine's.

'Vegas Skies' was still playing as he went to sit down at a table, his feet automatically taking him to the table he always sat at with Blaine. Setting down his bag by the leg of his chair, he read Blaine's instruction written on the outside of the coffee cup and popped the lid off to find another folded note wedged inside the otherwise empty cup.

_And now I know you are remembering our first conversation,_

_I've not forgotten a word of it, and I _

_Never will. I'll also never forget the day you told me you loved me; not the way you_

_Looked or the way I felt. And now I want to create another unforgettable day, so come_

_Back to the apartment to spend your afternoon off with me._

_Love always, Blaine x_

Kurt blinked down at the note, feeling his heart rate accelerate for some reason he couldn't quite fathom. At least now he knew why he had inexplicably been given the afternoon off from rehearsals. He was impressed that Blaine had managed to convince the production team to let him have the rest of the day off.

Grabbing his bag, he left the café, smiling at the barista – who was watching him closely again – on the way out. He headed towards the nearest subway station – along another familiar route from years of visiting the coffee shop – and re-read Blaine's notes as he walked, trying to piece it all together. He combed his brains to make sure he wasn't forgetting an important date in his and Blaine's relationship, but he was positive he wasn't; he was always good with remembering significant dates as he liked to plan something special for his boyfriend.

He read the notes over and over again during the subway ride home, even though the handwritten words were now imprinted in his mind. He still couldn't get any more out of them than he had during the first reading and all he could think of was that Blaine just wanted to do something sweet and a bit different for him. But he had a persistent, nagging feeling that these notes and the bumping into him on the subway this morning were hinting at something else.

He walked from the subway station back to the apartment still deep in thought, his head turning over the notes, the subway, the coffee shop, their first conversation, the first time that they said they loved each other…

Sliding his key into the lock and opening the apartment door, he was so pre-occupied with his own thoughts that he didn't notice Blaine sliding onto the piano bench and resting his trembling hands over the keys, but he did notice when familiar notes filled the air. He came to a halt near the table where he always dumped his keys and stared across the room at the piano where Blaine was playing the song he had written for Kurt a little over two years ago.

_Little Bit Of Truth._

He watched Blaine as he played, entranced as he always was when his boyfriend played a song or just absentmindedly played different chords and notes on the piano or guitar. When the song ended, Blaine continued to stare ahead of him, like he had done on the day when he played the song for Kurt for the first time. It was difficult to tell from this distance, but it looked like Blaine's arms were shaking slightly.

Blaine spun round on the bench, got to his feet and crossed the room silently before taking hold of Kurt's hands and leading him further into the room until they were standing near the piano.

Blaine let out a shuddering breath. "I wanted to play the song that I wrote for you, the song that helped me realise that I was in love with you and that will always remind me of the day we became a couple. I also wanted you to hear 'Vegas Skies' and to, in a way, relive memories of us."

Kurt could do nothing but stare at his boyfriend. He was frozen on the spot, his mind trying to understand what Blaine was saying to him, but drawing a blank.

"I-" Blaine opened and closed his mouth several times as he searched for the right words and then he shook his head slightly. "I tried to make it romantic by reminding you of all our best memories together and getting you to visit places that were significant to our relationship." He paused. "Well, I didn't get you to go on the subway, _exactly_ as you were taking it today anyway, but…" He trailed off with another small shake of his head and the look on his face as he gazed at Kurt was suddenly intense. "I'm not very good with romance, Kurt, but I tried because I know you love it – and I can't remember most of the speech I planned, so I'm just going to get to the point."

Kurt's heart was racing again and when Blaine dropped down onto one knee in front of him, now holding only one of Kurt's hands with both of his own, he didn't know whether to burst into tears, start squealing 'oh my god', or to clap his hands over his mouth and start hyperventilating. He settled for staring down at his boyfriend with wide eyes and with his breath caught in his throat.

"Kurt, you entered my life in a way that I never would have expected. I never expected someone like you to exist. You are the love of my life and there is no one else I could ever imagine being with and no one else I want to spend the rest of my life with." Dropping one of his hands from Kurt's and without breaking his gaze on him, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black box, holding it out and flipping it open with his thumb to reveal a white gold ring nestled inside. "Kurt Hummel, will you marry me?"

He was no longer frozen in place. "Yes," he whispered, and then stronger, louder, "_yes_." He dropped to his knees in front of Blaine and threw his arms around him, almost knocking the smaller man to the ground, and began kissing every inch of his face his lips encountered. "Yes, yes, yes, _yes_."

Blaine tilted his head up and pressed his lips against Kurt's, kissing him with all his heart, all the love he felt for the man who was now his fiancé. Tears dampened his eyelashes and his heart soared.

When they finally broke apart, Blaine lifted the ring out of the box with trembling fingers and reached for Kurt's left hand, sliding the ring onto his ring finger. He lightly traced over the metal band with the tip of his finger as if he needed further confirmation that the engagement ring that he had bought was now on Kurt's finger. Kurt had said yes. They were engaged. They were getting married.

Kurt was gazing down at the ring on his finger as well. "We're getting married," he said in awe.

"We're getting married," Blaine repeated, a huge smile on his face.

Kurt bent to kiss Blaine again, murmuring 'I love you' against his lips. After a moment or two, Blaine pulled back suddenly as if something had just occurred to him.

"Did you figure out my notes?"

Kurt gazed at him, a little puzzled. He was finding it hard to concentrate at the moment, still in awe over the fact that he and Blaine were now engaged. He kept fiddling with his ring, smoothing his thumb over it and twisting it on his finger.

Blaine noticed his distraction and laughed softly. "I didn't spend hours writing them for nothing."

Kurt pulled the notes out of the pocket of his jeans and handed them to Blaine. "I spent ages trying to work out why you wrote them like that, but I couldn't, so you'll have to tell me."

Blaine laid the notes down on the floor beside them and said, "Read the first word from each line except for where I signed off."

Tilting his head slightly to the side so he could see the notes properly, Kurt read the words aloud. "Kurt, because you stole my eyes and I've never looked back."

"It's a line from 'Vegas Skies', one that I stumbled over a little when I performed it that night at Bar4 because when I was singing it and our gazes were locked in that crowded bar, I realised that that line applied to me about you. Ever since I first saw you that day on the subway I was never able to forget you. I wanted to see you on the subway each day, and then when we finally met I wanted to spend as much time with you as possible. A part of me has belonged to you since I bumped into you that day and I could never take it back – or _want_ it back."

Kurt bit down on his bottom lip, feeling tears starting to well up again. "And you said you weren't good at romance," he said in a choked voice, swiping at a single tear that escaped. He smiled at Blaine. "I can't believe I never figured those notes out, it's easy to see now that you've pointed it out."

Blaine smiled teasingly at him. "Well, you always were a bit oblivious."

Kurt snorted a little at that. "And you _weren't_?"

"Hey,_ I_ made the first move!" Blaine protested.

Kurt shook his head at him. "Technically, I did as I was the one who initiated our first conversation."

"Well, if we're going _that _far back then I made the first move as I was the one who bumped into you on the subway and if it wasn't for that then we may not have ever noticed each other." Blaine's tone had started out teasing, but changed as he finished talking and the possibility of never having met Kurt hit him.

Kurt raised a hand and brushed a stray curl back off Blaine's forehead. "We would have met eventually," he said assuredly. "You would have noticed me at the subway by my outfits, or at that NYADA performance you came to, and I would have _definitely_ noticed you at your performance at Bar4." He pressed a light kiss to the tip of Blaine's nose. "It would have taken us even longer to get together, but I think it would have happened eventually."

He sat back and gazed down at his fiancé musingly. "You know, I once told Rachel that I didn't believe in love at first sight and maybe it wasn't exactly _love_, but, like you said, something definitely passed between us that day on the subway, something more than just a glance and an apology."

"Something," Blaine agreed. "And something always leads to something more."

Kurt just let out a small happy sigh and kissed Blaine again. "Hey, Blaine," he said against his lips and felt Blaine smile in response. "We're getting married."

* * *

**A/N: **This took me a lot longer to write than the other chapters in the story, it took me ages to decide how to end it.

That's the end of this story! I hope you enjoyed it. Huge thank you to everyone who read, reviewed and put this on their favourites or alerts!

The first chapter of my new story 'Off Camera' should be up soon. It's still being read by my new beta, so I'm not totally sure when it will be posted.

I looked up engagement rings for writing this chapter and I really liked this one for Kurt's ring, so this is what I imagine the ring Blaine gave him was like; just something fairly simple - engagementringsbox (.com) /wp-content /uploads /18_K_White_Gold_Diamond_Men_s-4fb857a183e17 .jpg (remove brackets and spaces)

Thanks for reading! :)


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